Syncona says Achilles Therapeutics may consider US IPO

It added that timing and terms have yet to be determined and would be subject to market conditions

Syncona Limited has told investors that its portfolio company Achilles Therapeutics expects to consider additional capital raise options this year, including a potential IPO in the United States.

Timing and terms have yet to be determined and would be subject to market conditions, it added.

This statement comes as Achilles announced that an Independent Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (IDSMC) has completed its first review of the ongoing, first-in-human Phase I/II CHIRON and THETIS trials.

The committee recommendation allows both the clinical trials to continue as planned.

It was a review of the first six patients dosed with the company's Clonal Neoantigen Targeting T cell therapy (cNeTs).

The review observed that the overall tolerability profile was similar to that of standard tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) products that have not been enriched for cNeT reactivities, with the lymphodepletion regimen accounting for most higher-grade adverse events.

Additionally, initial data from the first six patients provide encouraging evidence of cNeT engraftment. Based on these observations, the company plans to increase the administered cNeT doses in the next series of monotherapy patients.

This independent safety review along with the initial data from our CHIRON and THETIS trials are promising and are based on patients that have been dosed with cNeTs at the lower end of our prospectively targeted therapeutic dose range, said Achilles chief executive Dr Iraj Ali in a statement.

We now plan to move to higher cNeT doses and also open a combination cohort in the THETIS trial evaluating the addition of nivolumab, a PD-1 inhibitor, following cNeT infusion, subject to further safety review, Dr Ali said.

Achilles is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision T cell therapies to treat solid tumours.