Benzinga | Nov 8, 2021 05:33AM EST

Syncona Announced- Blackstone Life Science to invest $250M in Autolus; Shares of Autolus Up 36% Premarket

Syncona today announced that Blackstone Life Sciences ("Blackstone") has entered into a strategic collaboration and financing agreement with Syncona portfolio company Autolus Therapeutics plc ("Autolus"). The key terms of the financing agreement are set out below:

$250 million transaction: $100 million immediate equity investment and up to $150 million in product financing to support lead obe-cel) programme

$50 million of product financing is payable on closing of the transaction with the remainder payable based on certain near-term milestones, meaning a total $150 million upfront cash infusion

Blackstone will appoint a member to the Autolus Board of Directors and will receive a capped mid-single digit royalty based on product revenues generated with worldwide net sales of obe-cel and potential next generation products

Further details of this transaction can be found in the announcement by Autolus, which can be accessed on Autolus' investor website at https://www.autolus.com/investor-relations.

Martin Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Syncona Investment Management Limited, said: "We are delighted that Blackstone are investing in Autolus and remain excited about the obe-cel1 programme as a potentially stand-alone treatment for patients with adult acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). We believe the business is well positioned and well-funded to deliver obe-cel data from the ongoing pivotal FELIX study next year alongside progressing its broader pipeline. We believe that obe-cel represents a potentially best-in-class product that could represent a transformational treatment option for adult ALL patients."