Syncona to acquire Freeline Therapeutics for $28.3m
Betsy Goodfellow | November 24, 2023 | News story | Business Services | Freeline Therapeutics, Pharmacy, acquisition, syncona
Freeline Therapeutics has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with newly established portfolio company Syncona, in which Syncona will acquire Freeline in an all-cash transaction. Syncona will pay $6.50 per share, or an approximate total of $28.3m.
The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, although it is still subject to approval from Freeline’s minority shareholders.
In addition, through completion of this transaction, Syncona will be expected to provide Freeline with up to $15m in secured convertible debt financing to support operations and the continued development of its gene therapy candidate, FLT201, for the treatment of Gaucher disease.
Michael Parini, Freeline’s chief executive officer, commented: “Our goal at Freeline is to bring life-changing gene therapies to people with chronic debilitating diseases, starting with FLT201, our highly differentiated AAV gene therapy candidate for Gaucher disease. Given the compelling data that we have seen from the first two patients treated with FLT201, we are committed to advancing FLT201 as expeditiously as possible, and we believe we will be better positioned to do that as a privately held, Syncona-backed company than we could by continuing as a publicly traded company in the current environment.”
Chris Hollowood, chief executive officer of Syncona Investment Management, added: “We are encouraged by the data from the FLT201 programme and are pleased with how Freeline is executing, but the company needs further funding to continue to drive FLT201 through clinical development. The challenging market conditions impacting the biotech sector have presented a differentiated opportunity to support the company as a private entity. We look forward to working with the team to deliver on its next milestones.”
Betsy Goodfellow
Related Content
Brenntag acquires mcePharma to expand GMP capabilities in biopharma services
Brenntag Specialties has acquired Czech-based mcePharma, strengthening its position in the pharma and biopharma industries …
Curium Pharma announces acquisition of Monrol
Curium Pharma, a nuclear medicine company, has acquired Eczacıbaşı-Monrol Nuclear Products (Monrol), a nuclear medicine …
Enosium Life Science acquires RWEality
Enosium Life Science, which specialises in life sciences, has acquired RWEality, a consultancy focused on …
