Syncona upbeat on Autolus US public offering pricing

Healthcare investor Syncona said on Wednesday that its portfolio company Autolus Therapeutics has priced its underwritten public offering in the United States at $7.00 per American depositary share (ADS).

The FTSE 250 company said the 14,285,715 ADSs represented 14,285,715 ordinary shares, and raised total gross proceeds of about $100m (£72.3m).

All ADSs sold were offered by Autolus, which also also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,142,857 ADSs at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.

Syncona said it had agreed to invest about $25m in the offering, Following which it retained a stake of around 26.2%, amounting to 19,527,162 ordinary shares.

That holding was valued at £106m at close of business on 9 February.

“Our strategy is to work closely with our portfolio companies and fund them over the long-term as they seek to take product candidates to approval,” said Syncona Investment Management chief executive officer Martin Murphy.

“We are excited by the potential of Autolus' ‘AUTO1’ product candidate for the treatment of adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia to become a stand-alone treatment for patients.

“We believe the business is well positioned to deliver this programme through its pivotal trial and progress its pipeline of next-generation T-cell therapies.”

At 0920 GMT, shares in Syncona were up 1.56% at 260p.