Syncona Limited (LON:SYNC) has reported annual results showing portfolio progress, capital deployment and valuation changes for the year ended 31 March 2026.
Financial performance supported by continued financing and clinical progress at Beacon Therapeutics (Beacon)
· Net assets of £1,037.7 million (31 March 2025: £1,053.1 million), 170.6p per share (31 March 2025:170.9p per share), a NAV per share return of (0.2)%[1]
· Life science portfolio valued at £839.4 million2 (31 March 2025: £765.4 million), a return of 1.7%[2]
o Performance primarily driven by the write up of Beacon following its Series C financing
o Offset by the partial write downs of pre-clinical company, Kesmalea Therapeutics (Kesmalea) and CRT Pioneer Fund, alongside continued volatility in the share price of Autolus Therapeutics (Autolus)
o Kesmalea has been written-down following advanced third-party interest from potential investors and amidst challenging private biotech market conditions for early-stage companies
· Capital pool of £198.3 million2 at 31 March 2026 (31 March 2025: £287.7 million); £80.9 million deployed in the year2
Strong clinical and operational progress across an actively managed and maturing portfolio[3] of 15 companies
· Continued focus on driving the life science portfolio to late-stage clinical development, with 85.7% of the life science portfolio now in nine clinical-stage and commercial companies, of which two are late-stage clinical and one has a product on the market
· Portfolio companies continue to deliver strong clinical progress, including the initiation of Spur Therapeutic’s (Spur) Phase III clinical programme in Gaucher Disease and the initiation of Purespring Therapeutic’s (Purespring) Phase I/II programme for IgA nephropathy
· Beacon attracted further validating capital raising $75 million in an oversubscribed Series C financing led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, where Syncona committed $24.5 million alongside existing and new investors
· Broader strategic progress in the portfolio including research milestones, licensing and pharma collaborations
· Nine capital access milestones delivered by the portfolio companies in the year
Disciplined capital deployment weighted towards late-stage clinical companies with selective new seed investments to underpin future growth
· Syncona Investment Management Limited team continue to focus on allocating capital to opportunities that are clinical or late-stage clinical; 83.7% of gross capital deployed towards these assets
· Selective new investments with a prudent approach in line with an annual cap of £15.0 million for each of the two 12-month periods ending 30 September 2026 and 2027 with £8.1 million deployed into two early-stage opportunities
Encouraging signs of market recovery with potential for substantial latent value in the portfolio to be reflected in NAV
· Biotech market conditions are recovering with biotech public markets performing robustly
· Cautiously optimistic that positive momentum will translate into improved private market financing conditions in the year ahead
· Sector fundamentals remain strong with significant pharma M&A in 2025 continuing into 2026
· Maturing portfolio is well positioned to benefit from a more supportive backdrop and increased pharma M&A activity
Four key value inflection points expected in CY2026 with a further four key value inflection points before the end of CY2028
· Syncona is funded to deliver all key value inflection points (KVIPs) across its portfolio, which have the potential to drive significant NAV growth through M&A and liquidity events
· Four KVIPs expected by the end of CY2026, including:
o Data readout from Beacon’s Phase III pivotal trial in XLRP, which, if positive, will underpin a BLA filing
o Phase IIb data from iOnctura’s lead candidate in metastatic uveal melanoma
Shareholder approval of new Investment Policy, seeking to maximise value with a near term focus on returning a minimum of £250 million
· New Investment and Capital Allocation Policies initially focused on the return of a minimum of £250 million of proceeds to shareholders in a timely manner, realising maximum value from the Company’s mature portfolio assets
· The SIML team will continue to work closely with portfolio companies, ensuring capital is available to maximise value, whilst avoiding quick value destructive exit options
· Commitment to consult with shareholders on the Investment Policy once £250 million has been returned or in February 2028, whichever is earlier, with the intention to return to building a diversified portfolio of 20-25 companies
· Delivery of strong realised returns should be an important driver in narrowing the share price discount to NAV
· Shareholder approval of new SIML team incentive arrangements aligning the SIML team with the new Investment Policy
Evolution of Board composition
· Having led Syncona to an approved new Investment Policy and having joined the Board in 2019, Melanie Gee has informed the Company that the 2026 AGM will be the last time she offers herself for re-election and that she intends to retire from the Board by the 2027 AGM
· The Board will in due course start the process to find and appoint a successor to ensure a smooth transition
· Gian-Piero Reverberi will also step down from the Board by the end of the year. There will, therefore, be an interim period when the Board will comprise six Directors
· During the year, Virginia Holmes stepped down from the Board at the 2025 AGM with Kemal Malik taking up the role of Senior Independent Director
· Rob Hutchinson and Cristina Csimma also stepped down from the Board during the year and aligned with the Board’s succession planning, John Roche took over from Rob as Chair of the Audit Committee
· Norman Crighton will join the Board from 1 July 2026 bringing significant experience of listed investment companies
Strengthened SIML platform to further add value and support delivery of key value inflection points
· Team strengthened with Sam Roberts (ex-CEO of NICE) and Paul Sekhri (Chairman of Resolution Therapeutics) joining the team as Executive Partners
· These appointments enhance SIML’s perspective on the late-stage value proposition for Syncona’s investments and strengthen the team’s strategic transaction capability
SIML is well placed to drive value from advances in genomics, gene editing and AI with the UK at the forefront
· Advances in genomics, gene editing technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are combining to accelerate scientific progress and transform the way therapies are discovered, developed and translated into commercial reality
· SIML team and its unique model are well placed to embrace this evolution across the portfolio and unlock value for both patients and shareholders
Continued progress in raising SIML’s private fund
· SIML has continued to make progress in raising a private fund, independent of the Company, which will focus on the significant opportunity to leverage the UK’s significant research base to create, build and scale globally competitive life science companies
· The private fund should provide an opportunity to improve capital access for the Syncona portfolio
Melanie Gee, Chair of Syncona Limited, said: “In a year of significant strategic progress for the Company and continued macroeconomic uncertainty, Syncona’s portfolio delivered a stable financial performance, supported by good clinical and operational developments. We are cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the biotech markets and have been pleased to see an uptick in pharma M&A. The SIML team and our unique model are well placed to unlock value for both patients and shareholders.
During the year, the Board has worked very closely with the SIML team in formulating the new investment policy, which was approved in March 2026. The SIML team is focused on the return of at least £250m of proceeds to shareholders in a timely manner and is working closely with the portfolio companies to drive significant NAV growth and maximise value for our shareholders.
Aligned to the new Investment Policy, the evolution of the Board’s composition is now largely complete. I would like to thank all directors for their considerable time commitment and contributions during our strategy review, including Rob, Cristina and Virginia who left the Board during the year. I am delighted to welcome Norman to the Board, who will join us shortly. He will bring invaluable experience of listed investment companies.
Now that the new Investment Policy has been approved, I have informed the Company that the 2026 AGM will be the last time I offer myself for re-election and that I intend to retire from the Board by the 2027 AGM. By that time, I will have served as a Director for more than eight years and Chair since January 2020. I believe this would be an appropriate time to appoint a new Chair as the Company embarks on its next chapter. The Board will in due course start the process to find and appoint a successor. It has been a privilege to work closely with my Board colleagues and the broader SIML team, led first by Martin Murphy and then by Chris Hollowood, and to have the benefit of constructive engagement with many of our shareholders, which has been so appreciated. I look forward to working with the selected candidate to ensure a smooth transition.”
Chris Hollowood, Chief Executive Officer, of Syncona Investment Management Limited, commented: “The SIML team has been resolutely focused on maximising value for shareholders through active management of the portfolio, which is increasingly late-stage. Our hands-on approach means that our companies are built to be globally competitive and empowered to pursue their strategies ambitiously.
We have a number of key value inflection points across Syncona’s maturing portfolio that we expect to drive value in the near-term. Both iOnctura and Beacon have clinical read outs this calendar year, with the latter anticipating data from its pivotal study, following a period of outstanding progress. This progress was foundational to Beacon’s oversubscribed $75 million Series C financing, which was the primary positive driver of our financial performance. This further validates the team’s thesis of the importance on driving our companies’ exceptional science to high impact products, where outsized returns are achievable.
With a rich set of key value inflection points expected over the next three years, we expect to build and unlock more latent value across this exciting portfolio of companies, focusing first on the return of a minimum of £250 million proceeds to shareholders in a timely manner, whilst also driving significant future value and growth. 2026 has been an important year at Syncona with the approval of the Company’s new investment policy. We thank the Board, led by Melanie Gee, and Syncona’s shareholders for their support throughout this process and now look forward to focusing on delivery.”
Life science portfolio valuations[4]
| 31 Mar 2025 | Net investment in the period | Valuationchange | FX movement | 31 Mar2026 | % of Group NAV | ValuationBasis[5],[6],[7] | Fully diluted owner-ship stake[8] | Focus area | |
| (£m) | (£m) | (£m) | (£m) | (£m) | (%) | ||||
| Life science portfolio | |||||||||
| On the market | |||||||||
| Autolus | 34.6 | (4.1) | (0.4) | 30.1 | 2.9% | Quoted | 9.6% | Cell therapy | |
| Late-stage clinical | |||||||||
| Spur | 182.2 | 22.1 | 3.0 | 0.2 | 207.5 | 20.0% | Cost | 86.5% | Gene therapy |
| Beacon | 117.5 | 28.1 | 39.6 | (2.1) | 183.1 | 17.6% | PRI | 38.4% | Gene therapy |
| Clinical | |||||||||
| Quell | 85.4 | (2.0) | 83.4 | 8.0% | PRI | 33.7% | Cell therapy | ||
| Resolution | 55.5 | 15.0 | 1.0 | 71.5 | 6.9% | Cost | 82.8% | Cell therapy | |
| Purespring | 51.2 | 2.5 | (0.3) | 53.4 | 5.2% | PRI | 37.8% | Gene therapy | |
| Anaveon | 35.6 | 2.8 | 38.4 | 3.7% | PRI | 36.9% | Biologics | ||
| iOnctura | 25.1 | 1.1 | 26.2 | 2.5% | PRI | 22.5% | Small molecules | ||
| Mosaic | 25.5 | 25.5 | 2.5% | Cost | 59.2% | Small molecules | |||
| Pre-clinical | |||||||||
| OMass | 49.7 | 49.7 | 4.8% | PRI | 28.9% | Small molecules | |||
| Yellowstone | 16.5 | 16.5 | 1.6% | Cost | 60.9% | Biologics | |||
| Forcefield | 10.6 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 13.0 | 1.3% | PRI | 73.7% | Biologics | |
| Slingshot | 5.6 | 6.4 | 12.0 | 1.2% | Cost | 100.0% | Accelerator | ||
| Kesmalea | 20.0 | (10.8) | 9.2 | 0.9% | Cost | 59.7% | Small molecules | ||
| Re-Aim | 0.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0.4% | Cost | 37.8% | Biologics | ||
| Portfolio milestone payments | |||||||||
| Clade milestone payment | 0.8 | 0.1 | (0.1) | 0.8 | 0.1% | DCF | Cell therapy | ||
| Neogene milestone payment | 6.1 | (6.0) | (0.1) | 0.0 | 0.0% | – | Cell therapy | ||
| Syncona investments | |||||||||
| CRT Pioneer Fund | 27.3 | (2.0) | (15.1) | 10.2 | 0.9% | Adj Third Party | 64.1% | Oncology | |
| Achilles | 13.1 | (12.0) | (0.8) | (0.3) | 0.0 | 0.0% | – | 22.7% | Cell therapy |
| Biomodal | 2.7 | (0.3) | (0.1) | 2.3 | 0.2% | PRI | 3.0% | Epigenetics | |
| Century[9] | 0.4 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 2.1 | 0.2% | Quoted | 1.2% | Cell therapy | |
| Total Life Science Portfolio | 765.4 | 60.8 | 14.1 | (0.9) | 839.4 | 80.9% | |||
| Capital pool | 287.7 | (98.2) | 10.3 | (1.5) | 198.3 | 19.1% | |||
| TOTAL | 1,053.1 | 1,037.7 | 100.0% | ||||||
