TIDMONC
RNS Number : 8550P
Oncimmune Holdings PLC
12 October 2023
12 OCTOBER 2023
Oncimmune Holdings plc
("Oncimmune" or the "Company")
Update on strategy
Changes to the Board
Oncimmune Holdings plc (AIM: ONC.L), a leading autoantibody
profiling company to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry,
is pleased to announce an update on its strategy and further
changes to its board of directors.
Strategy update
As previously announced, Oncimmune has recently appointed a new
executive leadership team, with Martin Gouldstone joining the
Company as Chief Executive Officer on 1 August 2023 and Martin
Hudson joining as Finance Director on 4 September 2023. Ron
Kirschner, who was acting Chief Executive Officer (and prior to
that General Counsel and Company Secretary), became Oncimmune's
Chief Operating Officer. The new team has completed its initial
assessment of the Company's strategic positioning, following the
disposal of Oncimmune Limited in May, and Oncimmune is therefore
now providing stakeholders with the following update on its vision
and strategic priorities. The new team is looking forward to
discussing its vision and strategy with the Company's stakeholders
in the coming weeks.
Since acquiring its immuno-profiling business in March 2019,
Oncimmune has built a flexible multiplexing technology platform,
capable of processing tens of thousands of samples per year, with a
library of more than 9,000 antigens which have been validated for
use on its platform (some of which are proprietary to Oncimmune)
and a deep understanding of specific disease areas, backed by
academic publications and intellectual property. Oncimmune has
worked for seven of the top fifteen global pharma companies and has
become a qualified supplier with several long-term master services
agreements in place, generating repeat business. To date, Oncimmune
has been primarily focused on the growing fields of
immuno-oncology, autoimmune disease and infectious diseases
(including Covid), though its technology can be applied to other
disease areas and to more general biomarker discovery and
prediction of adverse events.
The capacity and capabilities which have been built over the
last two years mean that Oncimmune can now focus on higher value
customers, penetrating key accounts, partnering with key technology
suppliers and launching new tools in FY2024, without the need for
material further capex. In addition, and following consultation
with existing and new prospective partners and customers, Oncimmune
intends to:
-- Accelerate new commercial contracts through strategic
partnerships with both translational medicine Contract Research
Organisations (CROs) focused on discovery and pre-clinical
projects, and traditional clinical CROs. This should enable
Oncimmune to reach through to a wider customer base beyond its
existing commercial infrastructure.
-- Leverage its scientific capabilities in auto-antibody
analysis across new areas such as adverse event prognostics in
immuno-oncology therapeutics, and companion diagnostics. Oncimmune
will also explore new indication areas in Central Nervous System
disorders and diabetes.
-- Expand its business models beyond price-per-sample to more
strategic partnership models, similar to the long-term relationship
it has with Freenome Holdings, Inc., as well as co-development
projects with upfront project and milestone success fees with a
pricing model based on the value being delivered by Oncimmune.
-- Augment and grow its commercial team. Key hires have already
been made in Europe and the US, with further expansion planned in
the short and medium term.
Martin Gouldstone, Oncimmune's Chief Executive Officer,
said:
"In my first couple of months with the Company I have had the
pleasure of meeting with a number of our current and potential
customers, as well as some of our wider stakeholders, and have been
very pleased to see our technological offering and customer service
has been so well received. I believe that our new strategic
approach, which encompasses CRO partnerships, the extension of our
world class technology into new scientific areas and the use of new
commercial models, will help us to drive growth in FY2024 and
beyond, following a tough FY2023."
Board changes
In order to align with Oncimmune's new focus on its
ImmunoINSIGHTS business, having disposed of its early cancer
diagnostic business in May 2023, the composition of Oncimmune's
board of directors (the "Board") is undergoing further change. Tim
Bunting, who has been a director of Oncimmune since 2016, has
stepped down from the Board with immediate effect. Tim was one of
Oncimmune's earliest investors and continued to support it for over
15 years, many of them as a non-executive director. Tim remains a
major shareholder of Oncimmune, having supported its latest
fundraise in December 2022, and has given his full backing to the
Company's new management team.
Dr Annalisa Jenkins has also decided to step down from the Board
by the end of 2023. Annalisa has been a director of Oncimmune since
January 2018 and has served as the Company's Senior Independent
Director and Chair of its Remuneration Committee. To replace Dr
Annalisa Jenkins, Oncimmune is pleased to announce the appointment
of Sally Waterman. Sally has over 30 years of strategic and
operational experience in the life science industry, including
leading R&D and extensive involvement in M&A, and has
worked for large pharma, small biotech/biopharma and contract
service companies.
Once all of the changes set out above are completed, and
following the departure of Andrew Unitt as previously announced on
12 July 2023, the Board will consist of Alistair Macdonald
(Non-executive Chair), Dr Sally Waterman (Senior Independent
Non-executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee),
John Goold (Independent Non-executive Director and Chair of the
Audit Committee) and Martin Gouldstone (Chief Executive
Officer).
Tim Bunting said:
"I am grateful to have had the opportunity to support Oncimmune
and the world class life science technology it has developed, from
early cancer diagnostic to biomarker discovery. With the transition
of Oncimmune's leadership and focus now complete, I feel it is the
right time for me to step down from the board. I am fully
supportive of Oncimmune's new strategy, and look forward to seeing
it executed successfully."
Annalisa Jenkins said:
"In my more than five years with Oncimmune I have had the
pleasure of seeing it transform from a single asset diagnostic
business to a leading scientific platform which plays an important
part in the future of personalised medicine. The Company now has a
strong new leadership team which I am confident are capable of
making the platform a commercial success."
Alistair Macdonald, Oncimmune's Chairperson, said:
"I would like to offer my sincere thanks to both Tim and
Annalisa for their long and steadfast support of Oncimmune over
many years. I am delighted to welcome Sally to our board and look
forward to working closely with her, as we continue to drive a
stronger commercial agenda."
Financial results for FY2023
The audit process for the Company's financial results for the 12
months ended 31 August 2023 ("FY2023") is ongoing and the final
results will be released in due course. As announced on 22 May
2023, during FY2023 the Company disposed of its subsidiaries,
Oncimmune Limited (including the CE-marked IVD EarlyCDT(R) Lung
blood test, antibody platform and research and development
pipeline) and Oncimmune Europe GmbH, to Freenome Holdings, Inc. The
Company's financial statements for FY2023 will therefore include
results for its EarlyCDT business, which has been disposed of
during the year.
For further information:
contact@oncimmune.co.uk
Singer Capital Markets (Nominated Adviser and Broker)
Phil Davies, Harry Gooden, James Fischer
+44 (0)20 7496 3000
Zeus (Joint Broker)
Dominic King, Victoria Ayton, Dan Bate
+44 (0)20 3829 5000
+44 (0)20 3727 1000
About Oncimmune
Oncimmune is a global leader in immune biomarkers and
immunodiagnostics, offering autoantibody biomarker profiling in
immunooncology, autoimmune and infectious diseases. Through its
ImmunoINSIGHTS(TM) technology platform, the Company provides
insights and analytics to discover and validate novel biomarkers,
improve treatment responses and adverse event (irAE) prediction,
patient screening and diagnostic accuracy.
Oncimmune is headquartered in the UK, with its discovery and
development facility based in Dortmund, Germany and a business
development team based in the US and Europe.
For more information, visit www.oncimmune.com
Regulatory Disclosures
The following information regarding the appointment of Sally
Christina Waterman, aged 65, is disclosed under Schedule 2(g) of
the AIM Rules for Companies:
Current Directorships Previous Directorships
(within the last five years)
Cumulus Oncology Ltd Medherant Limited
Magnitude Biosciences Ltd OBN (UK) Ltd
Reading Hydro CBS Ltd Tri2o Triathlon Club Ltd
As at the date of this announcement, Sally Waterman does not
hold any shares in the Company.
Save as set out above there are no further disclosures pursuant
to Rule 17 or Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for
Companies in respect of the appointment of Sally Waterman.
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