INTERNATIONAL BIOTECHNOLOGY TRUST PLC July 2023 Factsheet
Why Biotech Investment
Investing in biotech is a way to support a highly innovative sector that is addressing high unmet medical needs. The pace of innovation is increasing, as is demand for biotech's products, and this leads to a dynamic, growth sector that offers investors the potential opportunity for good returns while simultaneously creating a positive social impact.
Investment Objective & Policy
The investment objective of International Biotechnology Trust plc (the "Company") is to seek to achieve long-term capital growth by investing primarily in biotech and other life sciences companies that are either quoted or unquoted and possess the potential for high growth. The Company invests in companies whose shares are considered to have good prospects, with experienced management and strong potential upside through the development and/or commercialisation of a product, device or enabling technology.
Driven by strong fundamentals of the biotech sector.
Access to a broad spectrum of quoted and unquoted investments in the biotech sector.
Provides investors exposure to both potential growth and a competitive yield.
Stocks selected on merit with consideration given to portfolio diversification.
Scientifically and financially experienced Investment Managers with access to specialists at SV Health.
Invested in companies at the cutting edge of biotech innovation.
*Excludes 24 companies held by the unquoted funds.
**Active Share is a measure of how much the weightings of a fund's holdings differ from those of the fund's benchmark index. The Company's benchmark index is the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (NBI).
Fund Facts and Characteristics
Launch date | 6 May 1994 |
Net assets | £279.1m |
Net assets per share | 695.5p |
Share price | 640.0p |
Value of unquoted investments | £24.8m |
(Gearing)/cash balance | -3.5% |
Number of portfolio companies* | 74* |
Portfolio Turnover p.a. | 119.7% |
Active Share** | 56.2% |
Shares outstanding | 40,132,759 |
Ex-div dates | December 2023 |
Dividend policy 4% of NAV p.a. bi-annually |
Ongoing costs, including 0.9% management fee and excluding performance fees, are 1.4% of NAV
Performance Fee: See page 35 of the Annual Report 2022
Continuation vote: At AGM in 2023; every two years
Year/Interim End: 31 August / 28 February
Performance | Total Return | ||||
5 year performance % | |||||
Total Return | 1 M | 1 YR | 3 YR | 5 YR | |
NAV per share | 28.0% | ||||
0.4% | 3.9% | 7.2% | |||
Share price | 19.6% | ||||
0.1% | -1.1% | -1.4% | |||
NBI | 19.0% | ||||
0.2% | 0.9% | 1.9% | |||
FTSE All-Share | 17.8% | ||||
2.6% | 5.9% | 41.4% | |||
Index |
Return vs Volatility
5 Years Annualised Chart (%)
Calendar Year | YTD | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Performance | ||||||
NAV per share | -4.9% | |||||
-1.1% | 0.6% | -4.2% | 29.8% | 19.9% | ||
Share price | -2.5% | |||||
-7.3% | -1.5% | -5.7% | 36.1% | 14.4% | ||
NBI | -3.3% | |||||
-7.4% | 0.6% | -0.2% | 23.2% | 21.1% | ||
FTSE All Share Index | -9.5% | |||||
5.2% | 0.2% | 16.7% | -9.0% | 19.7% |
Discrete Annual | July 22- | July 21- | July 20- | July 19- | July 18- |
Performance | July 23 | July 22 | July 21 | July 20 | July 19 |
NAV per share | 2.7% | ||||
3.9% | -2.0% | 5.3% | 16.3% | ||
Share price | 4.1% | ||||
-1.1% | -1.2% | 1.0% | 16.5% | ||
NBI | -2.1% | ||||
0.9% | -12.5% | 15.3% | 19.3% | ||
FTSE All-Share Index | 1.2% | ||||
5.9% | 5.5% | 26.6% | -17.7% |
Share Codes
Listing | London Stock Exchange |
Reuters / | IBT.L / IBT LN |
Bloomberg | |
Sedol | 0455934 GB |
ISIN | GB0004559349 |
Source: Bloomberg, mid-price (share price), quoted in sterling and SV Health Managers LLP. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Note: All performance data are quoted net of all costs to the Company.
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Investment Manager Review
In July 2023, the Trust's NAV per share returned 0.4% (GBP) while the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (NBI) returned 0.2% (GBP). The FTSE All-Share Index returned 2.6% (GBP) and IBT's share price returned 0.1% (GBP).
Source: Bloomberg and SV Health Managers LLP. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Unless where stated otherwise, performance is shown net of fees and expenses and includes reinvestment dividend and capital gain distributions.
Quoted Portfolio
The main positive contributors to the NAV in the month were Vera, Argenx and Amgen. Vera continued its strong performance from the previous month, supported by their positive phase 2 clinical data reported in June for a rare kidney disease called IgA Nephropathy. Separately, a competitor company with a similar profile, Chinook Therapeutics, was acquired by Novartis for $3.5bn.
Argenx reported phase 3 data for their lead asset Vyvgart in CIDP (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy), an autoimmune disease. Vyvgart is already approved and on the market, indicated for the treatment of myasthenia gravis, a rare condition causing muscle weakness. Amgen shares were strong heading into its 2Q quarterly earnings report. Investors were anticipating the closure of the Horizon acquisition, announced in December last year, which is expected YE23 and updates on their pipeline asset, specifically a clinical stage, oral drug for obesity.
The main detractors from the NAV in the month were Apellis, Mirati and Revance. Apellis suffered a major setback after news that its recently approved drug Skyfovre, for the treatment of an eye disease called geographic atrophy, is suspected to be the cause of a handful of patients losing their sight. Unexpected safety events post approval are rare and unpredictable as the drugs have been through a thorough clinical trial process. However, they are not unknown, and the future prospect of the drug is unclear.
Mirati shares were weak on news that the EU recommended their lead asset Krazati should not be approved for conditional approval. Krazati is currently being marketed in the US for a subset of lung cancer patients with a specific mutation (KRAS12C). Revance shares fell during the month on concerns that sales of their lead asset Daxxify would miss estimates at the upcoming quarterly earnings report.
Unquoted Portfolio
There were no significant updates in the unquoted portfolio during July 2023.
Contact Us
AIFM and Investment Manager | Company Secretary |
SV Health Managers LLP | Company Matters, Link Group |
71 Kingsway, London WC2B 6ST | Auditor |
Lucy Costa Duarte | PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP |
T: +44 (0) 20 7421 7070 | Broker |
E: IBT-IR@svhealthinvestors.com | |
W: www.ibtplc.com | Numis Securities Ltd |
Management Team
Ailsa Craig
Lead Investment Manager
Ailsa joined SV Health in 2006 and was appointed as Joint Lead Investment Manager of the Trust in March 2021. Ailsa has a BSc (Hons) in Biology from the University of Manchester. She was awarded the IMC in 2002 and the Securities Institute Diploma in 2007.
Marek Poszepczynski
Lead Investment Manager
Marek joined SV Health in 2014 and was appointed as Joint Lead Investment Manager of the Trust in March 2021. Marek has an MSc in Biochemistry and an MSc in Business Management from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.
Kate Bingham
Managing Partner SV
Kate joined SV Health in 1991 and represents the team of investment professionals managing the unquoted portfolio. Kate is a Managing Partner at SV Health Investors, has a first class degree in Biochemistry from Oxford University, and graduated from Harvard Business School with an MBA.
Houman Ashrafian
Managing Partner SV
Houman joined SV in 2016 and represents the team of investment professionals managing the unquoted portfolio. Houman is currently Head of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Oxford and an Honorary Consultant Cardiologist, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.2
Portfolio Exposure
As at 31 July 2023
Top quoted investments by NAV%
Amgen | 7.6% | |||||||||
Incyte | 6.4% | |||||||||
Harmony | 4.7% | |||||||||
Vera | 4.6% | |||||||||
Supernus | 4.5% | |||||||||
Regeneron | 3.7% | |||||||||
Travere | 3.2% | |||||||||
Neurocrine Biosciences | 3.1% | |||||||||
Gilead | 3.1% | |||||||||
Intra-Cellular | 3.0% | |||||||||
Total | 43.9% |
NAV% by | NAV% by Size | ||
Development | Mega Cap > USD 30BN | ||
Stage | Large Cap = USD 10 - 30BN | ||
Early Stage | Mid Cap = USD 2 - 10BN | ||
Small Cap < USD 2BN | |||
Profitable | Unquoted Funds | ||
Revenue Growth | Directly-held Unquoted | ||
All values quoted in % | All values quoted in % |
NAV % by Headquarter Location | NAV% by Therapeutic Area | |||||||||
Oncology | 26% | |||||||||
Rare Disease | 23% | |||||||||
CNS | 19% | |||||||||
Auto-immune | 12% | |||||||||
Ophthalmology | 4% | |||||||||
Infectious Diseases | 3% | |||||||||
Unquoted Funds | 7% | |||||||||
Other | 6% | |||||||||
91%US / Canada 7% EU/UK 2% Rest of World
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Discount/Premium
Control Mechanism
The Board regularly reviews the methods for managing both the discount and premium. The Board considers that conducting share buybacks can help to manage the discount of its share price to NAV, therefore enhancing share price performance for existing Shareholders. When the share price is trading at a premium to NAV, Shareholders have given the Board permission to reissue shares previously bought back or new shares at a premium to NAV.
AIFM and Investment Manager
SV Health Managers LLP was appointed Investment Manager of the Company on 1 January 2005 and Alternative Investment Fund Managers ('AIFM') on 21 July 2014.
Between November 2000 and December 2004, Schroder Ventures Life Sciences Advisers (UK) Ltd, was adviser to the Investment Manager of the Company during that period, Schroder Investment Management Ltd. SV Health Managers LLP's venture capital business advises six venture capital funds with capital commitments of over USD 2bn which primarily invest amounts of between USD 1m and USD 20m in North America and Europe, but will consider innovative investments in other regions.
SV Health Managers LLP manages the SV7 Impact Medicine Fund LP, a specialist USD 265m venture capital biotech fund, the Dementia Discovery Fund LP, a GBP 250m venture capital fund aiming to discover and develop breakthrough treatments for dementia, and the SV Biotech Crossover Opportunities Fund LP, a USD 250m venture capital fund targeting growth-stage, biotechnology companies developing transformative therapies.
SV Health Managers LLP is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (firm reference number 409119). Further information is available its website www.svhealthinvestors.com
Please note that on 13 February 2023 the Board of the Company and SV Health Managers LLP announced that SV Health Managers LLP had informed the Company of its intention to focus on its core healthcare venture business. The Board subsequently instructed its advisers to commence an independent process to review the Company's options to ensure continuity of shareholders' exposure to the sector for the long term. Further details and information can be found in the announcement that was made via the London Stock Exchange's Regulatory News Service - https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/IBT/investment-management-update/15833829.
Risk Warning
This financial promotion is issued and approved by SV Health Managers LLP ("SVHM"). Notwithstanding that this document is being provided to you as a financial promotion, you should be made aware that the opportunity described in the document is not suitable for all investors. It should not be relied upon to make an investment decision; any such investment decision should be made only on the basis of the fund scheme documents and appropriate professional advice. Nothing in this fact sheet is intended to be construed as: (i) an offer, invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity; (ii) investment advice or (iii) a recommendation.
The value of investments, and the income from them, may go down as well as up, and is not guaranteed, and investors may not get back the full amount invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and exchange rate changes may cause the value of overseas investments to rise or fall. Trusts such as the Company are able to borrow to raise further funds. This is generally known as "gearing", this can have the impact of improving returns in rising markets but conversely can increase the decrease in the value of funds in falling markets.
Investors should bear in mind that investment in biotechnology shares can be subject to risks not normally associated with more developed markets or stocks. Investing in the biotechnology sector carries some particular risks and investment in the Company should be regarded both as long term and as carrying a high level of financial risk. In addition, there is no guarantee that the market price of shares in investment trusts will fully reflect their underlying NAV and it is not uncommon for the market price of such shares to trade at a substantial discount to their NAV.
Active share can range from 0% to 100%. A score of 0% indicates that the portfolio is identical to the benchmark, while a score of 100% indicates that the portfolio has no holdings in common with the benchmark. Generally, higher active share indicates higher level of active management, and is associated with potentially higher returns and greater risk. However, active share alone does not guarantee higher returns, and investors should consider other factors such as fees, risk management, and historical performance when evaluating a portfolio.
This document has been prepared and is only made available to recipients who may lawfully receive it in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and rules and binding
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guidance of regulators. Every effort is taken to ensure the accuracy of the data used in this document but no warranties are given. Full details of the Company, including risk warnings, are published in the Investor Disclosure Document and Key Information Document which are available on request and at www.ibtplc.com. SVHM is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
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Disclaimer
International Biotechnology Trust plc published this content on 25 August 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 25 August 2023 09:45:02 UTC.
