Syncona Ltd announces that it has committed £15 million in an oversubscribed £75.5 million Series B financing in OMass Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that identifies medicines against highly validated target ecosystems.
Syncona was a co-investor in this financing round, which was led by new investors GV, Northpond and Sanofi Ventures. Existing investors Oxford Science Enterprises and Oxford University also joined the round.
OMass, an Oxford University spin out, is developing small molecule drugs to treat rare diseases and immunological conditions. The company has an approach to the way it finds new medicines. It uses its proprietary drug discovery platform, OdyssION, to more accurately interrogate the target and how it interacts with its native ecosystem. These observations provide potentially critical information that can increase the chances of finding highly effective small molecule medicines that will be successful in clinical trials.
This latest financing brings the total amount that OMass has raised to £119 million. These proceeds will be used to advance OMass’ small molecule portfolio towards clinical trials. This includes progressing the development of small molecule drugs to treat Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and other inflammatory and rare diseases.
Following the Series B financing, Syncona has revalued its existing investment which has resulted in a 32% uplift in the value of its stake in OMass. Including the drawdown of the first tranche of Syncona's Series B investment of £15 million, Syncona's holding value of OMass is now £44 million. On drawdown of the full Series B financing, Syncona's ownership stake in OMass will be 31 per cent.
Edward Hodgkin, chair of OMass and partner at Syncona said: “We are pleased with this financing round which will support OMass as it looks to progress its pipeline of small molecule drugs. The strength of this global group of top tier life science investors reflects confidence in the company’s technology and supports our ambition to build a sustainable therapeutics business that has the potential to develop novel drugs in areas of high unmet medical need. This financing represents a further validation of the ability of Syncona’s portfolio companies to attract high quality syndicates, to fund them over the long-term.”
Magdalena Jonikas, director of OMass and partner at Syncona said: “Early data has shown the potential of OdyssION as a powerful tool in drug discovery. The team at OMass has been working hard to develop a defined pipeline of targets, with strong potential across a variety of indications in immunology and rare diseases. We look forward to seeing them continue to build on recent momentum as they progress towards the clinic.”
Ros Deegan, chief executive officer of OMass said: “The completion of this oversubscribed round with such high-calibre investors is recognition of the significance of our OdyssION platform and its potential to support the development of an exciting portfolio of novel drug candidates. We have already made significant progress against highly validated but previously ‘undruggable’ targets and can now accelerate them towards clinical development while continuing to expand our pipeline.”