Syncona : Final Results for the period ending 31 March 2024

20 June 2024

Syncona Limited

Full Year Results for the 12 months ended 31 March 2024

Proactive management to rebalance the portfolio over the last 18 months, with capital prioritised

towards our most promising companies and assets, providing a platform for future growth

Investment in three highly innovative new portfolio companies, including one at clinical stage

Portfolio diversified across therapeutic area and modality, and weighted towards clinical and late-

stage clinical companies

Syncona Ltd, (the "Company"), a leading life science investor focused on creating, building and scaling a portfolio of global leaders in life science, today announces its Annual Results for the 12 months ended 31 March 2024.

Chris Hollowood, CEO of Syncona Investment Management Limited, said: "During the year, we have had a resolute focus on proactively managing our portfolio and a rigorous approach to capital allocation to maximise value in challenging market conditions. Against this backdrop, we have delivered a resilient financial performance, underpinned by strong execution across the portfolio. In parallel we have added three exciting and highly innovative new companies to the portfolio that can further drive medium and long-term growth.

In November 2022, we set out 10-year targets and our ambition to organically grow net assets to £5 billion. Since then, we have made significant progress in rebalancing the portfolio to provide a platform for future growth. Our maturing strategic portfolio of 13 companies expects to deliver eight key value inflection points with the potential to drive significant NAV growth by the end of 2026, including two in the next six months.

We are excited about the opportunity ahead. We continue to see compelling value in our shares and, having allocated £40 million to the share buyback in the year, have today allocated a further £20 million to the programme. We remain focused on driving NAV growth for shareholders and delivering transformational impact for patients."

Financial performance

• Net assets of £1,238.9 million (31 March 2023: £1,254.7 million), 188.7p1 per share (31 March
  2023: 186.5p per share), a NAV per share return of 1.2%2 in the year (31 March 2023: (4.1)%): o Positive returns from our life science portfolio and capital pool, enhanced by accretive
  share buybacks
• Life science portfolio valued at £786.1 million3 (31 March 2023: £604.6 million), a return of
  2.2%4 in the year (31 March 2023: (14.3)%), with uplifts from Autolus offset by partial write- downs of Anaveon and Clade and the write-off of Gyroscope milestones payments
• Capital pool5 of £452.8 million at 31 March 2024 (31 March 2023: £650.1 million)
• £20.2 million out of announced £40.0 million invested into the share buyback:

• 1. 16.5 million shares repurchased at an average 35.1% discount to NAV resulting in an accretion of 1.61p to NAV per share6
• £172.2 million deployed7 into the life science portfolio, within our guidance for the year

1. Fully diluted, please refer to note 14 in the financial statements. Alternative performance measure, please refer to glossary
2. Alternative performance measure, please refer to glossary
3. See footnote 2
4. See footnote 2
5. See footnote 2
6. Since the period end, as of 19 June 2024, a further £10.0 million of shares have been bought back at an average discount of 38.8%
7. See footnote 2

Proactive management of a maturing strategic portfolio8

• Proactive management to ensure that our companies have a path forward to reach late-stage clinical development, where we believe significant value can be accessed
• Ongoing focus on widening financing syndicates to provide broader financial scale:

1. Autolus completed a public offering of $350 million

• 1. Supporting portfolio companies to bring in aligned co-investors to expand syndicates
• Portfolio company budgets streamlined and capital deployment focused on most promising assets:
• 1. Anaveon took the strategic decision to focus on its next-generation compound, ANV600
• Explored strategic transactions and creative financing solutions:
• 1. Autolus signed a strategic collaboration and received an equity investment from BioNTech for upfront aggregate proceeds of $250 million

1. Quell entered into a cell therapy collaboration with AstraZeneca focused on autoimmune diseases, for which it received $85 million upfront, in a deal potentially worth over $2 billion9

• 1. Beacon announced the sale of its manufacturing facility post-period end to Ascend Advanced Therapeutics; transaction includes a long-term partnership with Beacon to continue to manufacture its products
• Portfolio company consolidations and M&A:
• 1. Market conditions presented a differentiated opportunity to take Freeline private, after which the company acquired SwanBio to create Spur, a new company with a consolidated adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy pipeline

1. Post-periodend an agreement was reached for Clade to be acquired by Century Therapeutics for up to $45.0 million (£35.9 million), with upfront consideration to Syncona of $9.3 million (£7.4 million)

Continued focus on rigorous capital allocation to maximise value

• Focus on allocating capital to clinical opportunities and assets that are approaching clinical entry, with 86.1% of capital deployed towards these assets in the period
• Syncona's view is that the current share price represents a compelling investment opportunity given the potential value within our portfolio
• As part of Syncona's focus on, and review of, capital allocation in the year, the Board took the decision to launch a share buyback programme of up to £40.0 million in September 2023:
  o Post-period end a further £20.0 million has been allocated to the share buyback programme

71.1% of strategic portfolio value in clinical-stage companies

• Significant work to rebalance the portfolio, prioritising capital towards the most promising companies and assets, and providing a platform for future growth
• Maturing strategic portfolio of 13 companies, with five clinical-stage companies of which two are late-stage
• Strong clinical, financial and operational execution across the portfolio, including nine financings and strategic transactions, 15 clinical data readouts and multiple senior leadership appointments

Investment in three highly innovative new companies to underpin medium and long-term growth, including one clinical-stage asset

• Invested €30 million (£25.7 million) as part of a Series B financing of iOnctura, a clinical-stage oncology company developing innovative therapies for neglected and hard-to-treat cancers

1. Portfolio of core life science companies where Syncona has significant shareholdings. Please refer to glossary
2. Contingent on successfully reaching development and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties

• Committed £16.5 million in a Series A financing of Yellowstone, a new biologics company which is pioneering soluble bispecific T-cell receptor (TCR)-based therapies to unlock a new class of cancer therapeutics
• Syncona committed to a Series A financing in Forcefield, a company we had previously seed funded, which is a pioneer of best-in-class therapeutics aiming to revolutionise the treatment of heart attacks via protection of cardiomyocytes. Alongside our £20.0 million commitment to Forcefield's Series A, post-period end Roche Venture Fund committed a further £10.0 million to the financing valuing Syncona's holding in Forcefield at £8.9 million, a 38% uplift to the 31 March 2024 value10

A platform to respond to improving market conditions

• Expanded senior team and embedded a new operating model to better support the delivery of Syncona's ambitious plans to achieve £5 billion of NAV by 2032:
  o Roel Bulthuis joined as Managing Partner and Head of Investments
  o John Tsai, previously Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Novartis, joined as Executive Partner
  o Kate Butler, former Group Finance Director of SIML, took up the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO), with former CFO, Rolf Soderstrom moving to the role of Executive Partner
  o Post-period end Harriet Gower Isaac was appointed Head of People

Outlook

Market conditions have been challenging. However, value is returning to late-stage clinical assets and financing conditions are beginning to improve in the private markets. We continue to proactively manage our maturing portfolio to drive our companies to late-stage clinical development and are resolutely focused on delivering the 11 capital access milestones and eight key value inflection points that are mapped against our NAV Growth Framework. We have a strong pipeline of new investment opportunities based on highly innovative science, across therapeutic area, modality and stage of development, from company creation to clinical stage.

Syncona is well positioned with a well-funded portfolio, strong balance sheet, newly embedded operating model, experienced team and clear strategy to take advantage of market conditions as they improve. We have rebalanced the portfolio, prioritising capital towards the most promising companies and assets, and have preserved value in a challenging market. We are excited about the opportunity ahead to achieve our 2032 targets. The financial year has started with positive momentum and we remain focused on driving NAV growth for shareholders whilst delivering transformational impact for patients.

Capital deployment

Syncona anticipates that deployment into the portfolio and pipeline in the financial year to 31 March 2025 will be £150-200 million.

Upcoming capital access milestones and potential key value inflection points11

As we build and scale our companies, there are opportunities to deliver milestones that drive access to capital (capital access milestones) and milestones that we believe have the potential to drive significant NAV growth (key value inflection points12).

1. The change in valuation in Forcefield is not included in the 31 March 2024 valuation of the company
2. The evolved terminology "potential key value inflection points" refers to the same portfolio milestones that were defined as "potential value inflection points" at our FY2023/4 Interim Results in November 2023. This terminology reflects their role in potentially driving significant NAV growth
3. Key value inflection points across the portfolio also have the potential to enable capital access

• 11 capital access milestones across the portfolio by the end of CY2026, with nine expected by the end of CY2025
• Eight key value inflection points, each of which has the potential to drive significant NAV growth by the end of CY2026, including two in the next six months. Syncona is funded to deliver on all of the portfolio's potential key value inflection points
• These capital access milestones and key value inflection points are not without risk

Strategic life science portfolio	Next expected capital	Syncona team view of
company	access milestones	potential key value
			inflection points
Moving towards being on the market
Autolus	H2 CY2024	CY2025
	- Initial data from Phase	- Commercial traction
		I trial in SLE	following US launch of
			obe-cel, dependent on
	H2 CY2024	FDA regulatory approval
	-	Commence the US
		commercial launch of
		obe-cel, dependent on
		anticipated FDA
		regulatory approval in
		November
Beacon	CY2025	H2 CY2024
	- Initial data from its	- 24-month data from its
		Phase II DAWN trial in	Phase II SKYLINE trial in
		XLRP	XLRP
			CY2026
			- Data readout from its
			Phase II/III registrational
			VISTA trial in XLRP13
Moving towards publishing definitive data
iOnctura	CY2024	CY2026
	-	Initiation of Phase II	- Data readout from its
		trial in uveal	Phase II trial in uveal
		melanoma	melanoma
Spur14	H2 CY2024	H2 CY2024
	-	Select development	- Data readout from its
		candidate for GBA1	Phase I/II trial in Gaucher
		Parkinson's disease	disease
		programme
	H1 CY2025
	- Initial safety readout in
		higher dose cohort
		from its Phase I/II trial
		in AMN

1. The UK's MHRA and the EU's EMA have accepted the VISTA study design as being pivotal
2. Capital access milestones and potential key value inflection points relate to programmes formerly being progressed by Freeline and SwanBio

	CY2025
	- Initiation of Phase III
		trial in Gaucher
		disease
Resolution	H2 CY2024	CY2026
	-	Initiation of Phase I/II	- Data readout from its
		trial in end stage liver	Phase I/II trial in end
		disease	stage liver disease
Moving towards publishing emerging efficacy data
Quell			CY2025
			- Data readout from its
			Phase I/II trial in liver
			transplantation
Anaveon	H2 CY2024	CY2026
	-	Initiation of Phase I/II	- Data readout from its
		trial of ANV600, the	Phase I/II trial of its next
		company's next	generation asset
		generation compound	ANV600
Purespring	CY2026
	- Initiation of Phase I/II
		trial in complement
		mediated kidney
		disease
OMass	CY2026
	- Initiation of Phase I
		trial of its MC2
		programme
Enquiries
Syncona Ltd
Natalie Garland-Collins / Fergus Witt
Tel: [phone]
FTI Consulting
Ben Atwell / Tim Stamper
Tel: [phone]
About Syncona

Syncona's purpose is to invest to extend and enhance human life. We do this by creating, building and scaling companies to deliver transformational treatments to patients in areas of high unmet need.

We aim to build and maintain a diversified portfolio of 20-25 globally leading life science businesses, across development stage, modality and therapeutic area, for the benefit of all our stakeholders. We focus on developing treatments that deliver patient impact by working in close partnership with world- class academic founders and experienced management teams. Our balance sheet underpins our strategy, enabling us to take a long-term view as we look to improve the lives of patients with no or poor treatment options, build sustainable life science companies and deliver strong risk-adjusted returns to shareholders.

Forward-looking statements - this announcement contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the portfolio of investments of Syncona Limited. These statements and forecasts involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend upon circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In particular, many companies in the Syncona Limited portfolio are conducting scientific research and clinical trials where the outcome is inherently uncertain and there is significant risk of negative results or adverse events arising. In addition, many companies in the Syncona Limited portfolio have yet to commercialise a product and their ability to do so may be affected by operational, commercial and other risks.

Syncona Limited seeks to achieve returns over the long term. Investors should seek to ensure they understand the risks and opportunities of an investment in Syncona Limited, including the information in our published documentation, before investing.

Life science portfolio valuations

		Net					Valuati	Fully
		investm				% of	diluted
		Valuation	FX	31 Mar	on	Focus
Company	31 Mar	ent in	Group	owner-
change	movement	2024	basis15	area
	2023	the	NAV	ship
				,16,17
		period					stake
	(£m)	(£m)	(£m)	(£m)	(£m)			(%)
Strategic
portfolio
companies
Late-stage
clinical
Autolus									Cell
50.0		122.4	(2.9)	169.5	13.7%	Quoted	12.6%	therapy
Beacon									Gene
60.0	20.2		0.1	80.3	6.5%	PRI	65.3%	therapy
Clinical
Spur18									Gene
72.3	63.0	1.1	(0.8)	135.6	10.9%	Cost	99.0%	therapy
Quell									Cell
86.7			(2.0)	84.7	6.8%	PRI	33.7%	therapy
iOnctura									Small
0.0	25.7		(0.1)	25.6	2.1%	Cost	23.0%	molecules
Pre-clinical
Resolution									Cell
23.0	26.919	0.1		50.0	4.0%	Cost	81.6%	therapy
Purespring									Gene
35.1	9.9	0.3		45.3	3.6%	Cost	77.1%	therapy
OMass									Small
43.7				43.7	3.5%	PRI	32.7%	molecules
Anaveon	64.2	12.6	(42.8)	1.7	35.7	2.9%	PRI	36.9%	Biologics
Kesmalea									Small
4.0	8.0			12.0	1.0%	Cost	62.2%	molecules
Mosaic									Small
7.3				7.3	0.6%	Cost	52.4%	molecules

1. Primary input to fair value
2. The basis of valuation is stated to be "Cost", this means the primary input to fair value is capital invested (cost) which is then calibrated in accordance with our Valuation Policy
3. The basis of valuation is stated to be "PRI", this means the primary input to fair value is price of recent investment which is then calibrated in accordance with our Valuation Policy
4. New company following Freeline's acquisition of SwanBio
5. Capital invested incorporates Series A commitment in addition to a £12.0 million convertible note

Forcefield	2.5	4.0			6.5	0.5%	Cost	88.5%	Biologics
Yellowstone	0.0	1.0			1.0	0.1%	Cost	21.6%	Biologics
Portfolio
milestones
and deferred
consideration
Beacon
deferred									Gene
consideration	15.9		(1.6)	0.1	14.4	1.2%	DCF		therapy
Neogene
milestone									Cell
payment	0.0		2.2		2.2	0.2%	DCF		therapy
Gyroscope
milestone							Written-		Gene
payments20	54.5		(56.4)	1.9	0.0	0.0%	off		therapy
Syncona
investments
CRT Pioneer							Adj
						Third
Fund
32.8	(1.4)	2.5		33.9	2.7%	Party	64.1%	Oncology
Biomodal21									Epigenetic
18.5			(0.5)	18.0	1.5%	PRI	5.5%	s
Achilles22	8.6		2.5	(0.1)	11.0	0.9%	Quoted	24.5%	Cell
	therapy
							Expect
Clade							ed
						procee		Cell
	24.3		(14.4)	(0.5)	9.4	0.8%	ds	21.7%	therapy
Adaptimmune									Cell
1.2	(1.4)	0.2		0.0	0.0%	Quoted		therapy
Total Life
Science
Portfolio	604.6	168.5	16.1	(3.1)	786.1	63.5%
Capital pool	650.1	(219.7)	27.1	(4.7)	452.8	36.5%
TOTAL	1,254.7				1,238.9	100%

Chair's statement

Global market conditions have continued to be impacted by significant macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, which have weighed on sentiment more broadly. It has been one of the worst bear markets for biotech on record, with the S&P Biotech Index (XBI) ending Syncona's financial year 45.7% lower than its peak in February 2021. Over the same period Syncona's life science return is (13.5)% and NAV per share return is (6.1)%23. In particular, the funding environment for pre-clinical and early-stage clinical biotech companies has been difficult.

Against this backdrop, the Syncona team24 has proactively managed the portfolio to protect value and has taken a rigorous approach to capital allocation, focused on clinical assets and assets approaching clinical entry, to enable the delivery of the key value inflection points outlined at our FY2023/4 Interim Results.

Financial performance

1. Syncona's risk-adjusted and discounted valuation of the milestone payments from the sale of Gyroscope Therapeutics
2. Formerly CEGX
3. Syncona has moved Achilles from the strategic portfolio to being classified as a Syncona investment, further information can be found in the portfolio review
4. 31 December 2020 used as starting valuation for life science and NAV per share returns
5. Use of "Syncona team" refers to the Syncona Investment Management Limited (SIML) team

During FY2023/4, Syncona has delivered a resilient performance, ending the year with net assets of £1,238.9 million or 188.7p per share, a 1.2% NAV per share return in the year (31 March 2023: net assets of £1,254.7 million, NAV per share of 186.5p, (4.1)% NAV per share return). The life science portfolio delivered a 2.2% return, with the increase in the value of Autolus Therapeutics (Autolus), offset by the partial write-downs at Anaveon and Clade Therapeutics (Clade) and the write-off of Gyroscope Therapeutics (Gyroscope) milestone payments. Performance was further enhanced by accretive share buybacks and positive returns from our capital pool assets.

Focused and rigorous capital allocation

The challenging market backdrop and broader sentiment has impacted Syncona's share price, which declined by 17.0% in the year, with the discount to NAV widening from 20.5% to 34.8%. The Board believes that the share price undervalues the portfolio and its potential and represents a compelling investment opportunity. In September 2023, the Board took the decision to allocate up to £40.0 million to a share buyback programme and post-period end a further £20.0 million has been allocated25 to the programme. The Board believes this strikes the right balance between continuing to focus capital allocation on Syncona's maturing portfolio and a share buyback given the material discount to NAV at which the shares are currently trading. The capital allocated to the buyback does not impact planned investment into clinical-stage assets in the next 24 months.

In the period, £20.2 million of shares have been repurchased at an average discount of 35.1% to NAV per share, resulting in an accretion of 1.61p to NAV per share in the year. The share buyback is ongoing, with a further £10.0 million of shares bought back since the period end26.

Over the course of the year, the Syncona team has evolved the Company's approach to capital allocation, moving from focusing on having up to three years of financing available to ensuring Syncona is positioned to sustainably deliver capital access milestones, and is funded to deliver key value inflection points, which have the potential to deliver significant NAV growth. As our portfolio companies continue to mature there is increased potential to access third party capital and liquidity, allowing for a more dynamic approach to capital allocation. The Board believes the evolution in our approach retains the strategic balance sheet that underpins the delivery of Syncona's long-term strategy, whilst also allowing the Company to optimise returns for shareholders. This Capital Allocation Policy is covered more fully in the business review and included in full in the supplementary information section of this announcement.

Embedding a new operating model

During the year, the Syncona team has expanded its senior team and embedded a new operating model to enable the more efficient management of people, capital and the Syncona portfolio. As part of this process, in April 2023 Roel Bulthuis joined as Managing Partner and Head of Investments, bringing over 20 years of global life science venture capital, business development and investment banking experience. In May 2023, John Tsai (previously CMO at Novartis) joined as Executive Partner, with significant clinical, pharmaceutical and leadership experience. Effective 1 April 2024, Rolf Soderstrom former CFO of SIML moved to the role of Executive Partner, where he now supports the Leadership and Investment Teams whilst remaining on the SIML Board and as Chair of the Valuation Committee. Kate Butler, former Group Finance Director of SIML and an experienced financial leader from a career across biotech, took up the role of CFO of SIML. Our Executive Partner group27 has also expanded during the year and is well placed to support execution at the portfolio companies as they scale. This is an important function for the business and supports our proactive portfolio management approach.

1. The further £20.0 million allocated to the share buyback programme will be on the same terms as announced on 29 September 2023, save that the programme has been extended beyond the Company's 2024 Annual General Meeting, subject to the grant of a new buyback authority to the Company by the shareholders at that meeting. Any share purchases under the share buyback programme will be made pursuant to the authority to repurchase shares granted to the Company at its Annual General Meeting held on 1 August 2023, or any new authority granted to the Company at its 2024 Annual General Meeting
2. As at 19 June 2024
3. Please refer to glossary

Martin Murphy stepped down as Chair of SIML after 11 years of playing an instrumental role in building Syncona into the business it is today. Martin's impact on both the Company's trajectory and the wider ecosystem has been remarkable, and we are indebted to him for his dedication and the platform he helped us to establish. The Board is pleased with the strategic progress Syncona has made and with how the senior team, now led by Chris, as CEO and Interim Chair of SIML, is operating. A recruitment process to appoint a new permanent Chair of SIML is ongoing. The evolution of the team and the model are critical to the delivery of Syncona's ambitious plans to achieve £5 billion of NAV by 2032.

Building a sustainable life science ecosystem

Since 2012, Syncona has been a key part of changing the landscape for ambitious life science company creation in the UK. As a direct consequence of Syncona's actions, many potential therapies have been taken from academic research into the clinic on an industrial and scalable footing. The Board and Syncona team are passionate about shaping a life science ecosystem that is sustainable and provides a platform for further success. We contribute to this in a range of ways, including by building companies in the UK, funding them at scale and focusing them on product development. The Board and Syncona team also continuously engage with a range of stakeholders, including Government, industry participants, life science property developers, charities and regulators, to enable the scaling of a dynamic biotech cluster in which Syncona and the companies we build can thrive.

The Board is increasingly encouraged by the growing cross-party public policy support for science and innovation, and increased investment in high-growth sectors. A key challenge in translating science from an academic setting and developing it into a commercial reality is accessing the appropriate level of capital to enable a company to scale. We are therefore highly supportive of the ambition behind the Mansion House reforms. The Board and Syncona team are committed to working alongside the signatory pension providers and other relevant parties as these commitments move towards tangible proposals to provide the scale-up capital that will take the UK's biotech sector to the next level.

Syncona's positive role within the ecosystem is also aligned with our commitment to sustainability, which is embedded into Syncona's investment, portfolio management, and business processes. I am pleased with our continued progress in this regard, which includes SIML becoming a signatory of the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative and completing its first UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) submission. A full overview of our progress in and commitment to sustainability and responsible investment can be found in the Sustainability Report that has been published today.

Outlook

Macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties have created a challenging backdrop for Syncona and our portfolio. These conditions have impacted both the cost of capital and financing environment in our sector. As we move into FY2024/5, despite the ongoing macro uncertainties, we are cautiously optimistic given the gradual decline in inflation and potential for interest rate cuts. We believe improvements in the macroeconomic environment will create more favourable conditions for our companies to operate in.

In the last year, the Syncona team's operational progress and proactive management of the portfolio has provided a platform for future growth. A newly embedded operating model, expanded team, and evolved Capital Allocation Policy underpinning our disciplined approach to managing our balance sheet, mean Syncona is well positioned to take advantage of market conditions as they improve.

With three companies added to the portfolio during the year, including one at clinical stage, we are on track to deliver on our 10-year targets which were set out in November 2022:

• Three new companies created or added to the portfolio per year

• 1. This target has been updated to reflect that we will both create companies from highly innovative science and invest in existing companies at clinical stage
• Delivering three to five companies to late-stage development where we are significant shareholders
• Building a portfolio of 20-25 life science companies

The Board remains focused on overseeing and supporting the Syncona team with delivery of our long-term strategy to create, build and scale a portfolio of 20-25 leading life science companies and organically grow net assets to £5 billion by 2032. Together, the Board and Syncona team remain committed to these targets and to delivering medium and long-term growth for our shareholders.

Melanie Gee, Chair of Syncona Limited, 19 June 2024

Business review

The Syncona team has made significant progress in the year, proactively managing the portfolio against a challenging market backdrop, embedding a new operating model to enable scale and adding new companies to the portfolio to deliver on its 10-year targets.

Life science portfolio performance

The performance of the life science portfolio has been driven by a £122.4 million valuation gain from Autolus, which was largely offset by partial write-downs of Anaveon and Clade and the write-off of Gyroscope milestone payments.

The share price appreciation at Autolus was driven by continued strong progress in the development of its obe-cel therapy. The company has submitted the key regulatory filing for approval of the drug, its Biologics License Application (BLA), with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and expects to receive feedback regarding potential approval in November 2024. Autolus also completed a strategic collaboration with BioNTech worth $250 million in upfront proceeds and a public offering of $350 million.

Elsewhere, the partial write-down of Syncona's holding in Anaveon to £35.7 million28 (£42.8 million decline in value) reflected the company's decision to focus on its next generation, pre-clinical ANV600 programme and the post-period end sale of Clade to Century saw a £14.4 million write- down to £9.4 million. These actions, whilst disappointing from a value perspective, were aligned with our rigorous approach to capital allocation and proactive management of the portfolio. In addition, Novartis' decision during the year to discontinue the development of GT005, which it had been responsible for progressing since acquiring Gyroscope in February 2022, resulted in a write-off of the £56.4 million risk-adjusted valuation of the milestone payments29.

A maturing, proactively managed portfolio

In November 2022, we set out 10-year targets to organically grow net assets to £5 billion. Since then, the Syncona team has worked hard to rebalance the portfolio whilst prioritising capital towards the most promising companies and assets to provide a platform for future growth. We now have 13 core life science companies in our strategic portfolio that we aim to build to a portfolio of 20-25 companies by 2032. This portfolio is diversified across therapeutic area and modality and weighted towards clinical and late-stage clinical companies.

Over the year, our strategic portfolio has continued to mature with 71.1% of its value now in clinical- stage companies. More broadly, we are pleased with the clinical, operational and financial delivery

1. Includes additional £12.6 million invested following the write down as part of the final tranche of the Series B financing
2. Increase from £54.5 million as at June 2023 due to the impact of foreign exchange during the period