Syncona has launched a novel portfolio company, Slingshot Therapeutics though an initial commitment of £12.5m.
The life science investor will have a 100% stake in the business once all current commitments are invested, according to the company.
Slingshot Therapeutics will be responsible for accumulating a pipeline of early-stage pharmaceutical programmes and taking them towards the clinic.
The company will identify these compounds from academia, assisting these institutions in getting access to development expertise that's rarely available to singular early-stage programmes.
Slingshot will also offer researchers access to centralised resources, funding and operational support to assist them in developing the next generation of therapeutics.
Its centralised structure aims to de-risk the early-stage drug development process, while also providing academic programmes with more exposure and a chance to see their pharmaceutical potentially go to patients.
Syncona's initial investment will go into building Slingshot's operations, team and platform, while also launching its first programme, Apini.
Apini, or SSTX-001, is a small molecule initiative specifically focused on inflammatory disease, which has been identified by the University of Manchester.
Slingshot will be led by Syncona's Managing Partner Edward Hodkin, who will act as the Executive Chair of the company.
Edward stated: “Slingshot is an exciting addition to the Syncona portfolio, focused on accelerating exceptional academic science into attractive biotech assets ready for the clinic, creating an opportunity for a variety of paths to take medicines to patients. Slingshot represents an opportunity to bridge the gap between academic innovation and clinical development of a novel medicine, whilst presenting Syncona with a capital efficient way to access the returns available from translating early innovation into promising biotech assets."
"Slingshot looks to partner with outstanding scientific researchers who possess unique insights into the relationship between drug targets and disease outcomes. We are very excited to be able to announce our first programme, Apini, and continue our work to actively source additional opportunities for Slingshot across a broad range of therapeutic areas.”
