Syncona quarterly results impacted by performance of listed holdings

Syncona reported net assets of £1.20bn for the quarter, or 178.9p per share, leading to a net asset value return of -7.7% for the period.

The FTSE 250-listed firm's life science portfolio was valued at £622.4m at the end of the quarter, down from £722.1m at 31 March for a total return of -13.9%, driven by the decline in the share prices of Freeline and Achilles Therapeutics, which fell £110.9m to materially outweigh a £12.8m valuation uplift from the appreciation of Autolus' share price.

Syncona added that it had made strong clinical progress with five clinical-stage companies and positive data generation in the quarter.

Chief executive Martin Murphy said: "We are pleased with the continued positive clinical progress across our companies over the period with Anaveon dosing the first patient in its clinical programme and becoming Syncona's fifth clinical-stage business.

"Whilst we recognise that the share price performance of our listed holdings has brought volatility to our NAV, we remain focused on delivering value over the long-term."

As of 0905 BST, Syncona shares were down 1.27% at 208.31p.