(Alliance News) - Syncona Ltd on Wednesday said that its portfolio company, Beacon Therapeutics, has raised USD170 million in a Series B financing.

Syncona is a London-based life science investor owns a diversified portfolio of companies spanning across clinical stages, while Beacon Therapeutics is an ophthalmic gene therapy company, focused on saving and restoring the vision of patients with blinding retinal diseases.

Syncona invested USD42.5 million, alongside a global syndicated of new and existing investors. Including GBP9.6 million of new capital invested since March 31, Syncona's holding value of Beacon will be USD131.9 million.

On drawdown of the full series B financing, Syncona's ownership stake in the business will be just over 41%.

The latest financing brings the total amount that Beacon has raised in funding to date to USD290 million. The funds will be used to support the continued clinical development of Beacon's AGTC-501 therapy for x-linked retinitis pigmentosa, and to generate clinical trial data.

"Beacon has secured a high-quality syndicate of investors to support the ongoing development of its lead clinical candidate AGTC-501 and broader pipeline. The strength and calibre of this global group of life science investors provides important external validation of Beacon's technology and progress to date. We have leveraged our expertise and network to support Beacon thus far, from identifying the opportunity to acquire a late-stage asset in AGTC, to supporting this financing today," said Elisa Petris, lead partner at Syncona Investment Management.

Shares in the firm were trading 0.4% lower at 109.20 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

By Holly Beveridge, Alliance News senior reporter

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