UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

FORM 6-K

 

 

 

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16

UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the Month of January 2021

 

 

 

Commission File Number: 001-39487

 

 

 

Silence Therapeutics plc

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

 

 

72 Hammersmith Road

London W14 8TH

United Kingdom

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

 

Form 20-F            Form 40-F

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): 

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): 

 

 


 


 

Furnished as Exhibit 99.1 and Exhibit 99.2 to this Report on Form 6-K are press releases of Silence Therapeutics plc (the Company), each dated January 6, 2021, announcing the appointments of Craig Tooman as Chief Financial Officer of the Company and member of the Silence Executive Leadership Team, effective immediately and Michael H. Davidson, MD, as a Non-Executive Director of the Company, effective immediately.

 

In connection with his appointment and in accordance with the Company’s 2018 Employee Long Term Incentive Plan, Mr. Tooman was granted options to purchase 580,000 ordinary shares of the Company at an exercise price equal to £5.26, the mid-market closing price on AIM on January 5, 2021. The options will vest over a period of four years, with 145,000 options vesting on the 12-month anniversary of the grant, and the remaining options vesting quarterly in twelve equal installments following the 12-month anniversary of the grant.  

 

 

 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit
No.

 

Description

 

 

 

99.1 

 

Press release, dated January 6, 2021, “Silence Therapeutics Appoints Craig Tooman as Chief Financial Officer.”

99.2 

 

Press release, dated January 6, 2021, “Silence Therapeutics Appoints Michael H. Davidson, MD, to Board of Directors.”

 

 


 


 

SIGNATURE

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

 

Silence Therapeutics plc

 

 

 

 

By:

/s/ Mark Rothera

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name:

Mark Rothera

 

 

Title:

President and Chief Executive Officer

 

Date: January 6, 2021

 

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

 

 

Silence Therapeutics Appoints Craig Tooman as Chief Financial Officer

 

 

6 January 2021

 

LONDON, Silence Therapeutics plc, AIM:SLN and Nasdaq: SLN (“Silence” or “the Company”), a leader in the discovery, development and delivery of novel short interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with significant unmet medical need, today announced the appointment of Craig Tooman as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and member of the Executive Leadership Team, effective immediately.

 

Mr. Tooman has a successful career in the biopharmaceutical industry spanning more than 30 years, including 15 years of experience as a public company CFO. Most recently, he was CFO and COO at Vyome Therapeutics, and prior to this was CFO and then CEO of Aratana Therapeutics where he successfully negotiated a merger with Elanco. Before Aratana, Mr. Tooman was the CFO of Enzon Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Sigma Tau, and prior to that led the $1.1 billion M&A initiative and integration of ILEX Oncology and Genzyme Corporation. He also held key positions at Pharmacia and Upjohn. Mr. Tooman currently serves on the Supervisory Board and Audit Committee of CureVac, which accomplished a highly successful IPO on Nasdaq in August of 2020.

 

Mr. Tooman has a BA in Economics from Kalamazoo College and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

 

Mark Rothera, President and CEO of Silence Therapeutics, commented: “Craig brings a deep understanding of financial strategy, U.S. capital markets and business development to Silence. We are delighted to have him join Silence’s Executive Leadership Team. His appointment comes at a time of significant opportunity and growth, highlighted by the advancement of our two wholly owned product candidates into the clinic and three anticipated clinical data readouts this year. His business and financial expertise will be instrumental in helping us build our U.S. footprint and positioning Silence as a leading global RNAi business.”

 

Craig Tooman, incoming CFO of Silence Therapeutics, commented: Silence is a fast-growing company with ground-breaking technology that stands out in the RNAi space. It is exciting to join at this stage of the Company’s journey, following a number of recent successful partnerships and transformational deals. I look forward to working with the team to continue the momentum.”

 

Enquiries:

 

Silence Therapeutics plc

Gem Hopkins, Head of IR and Corporate Communications

ir@silence-therapeutics.com

 

Tel:  +1 (646) 637-3208

  Investec Bank plc (Nominated Adviser and Broker)

Daniel Adams/Gary Clarence

 

Tel:  +44 (0) 20 7597 5970

 

 


 

 

European IR

Consilium Strategic Communications

Mary-Jane Elliott/ Angela Gray / Chris Welsh

silencetherapeutics@consilium-comms.com

 

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5700

U.S. IR

Westwicke Partners

Peter Vozzo

peter.vozzo@westwicke.com

Tel: +1 (443) 213-0505

 

About Silence Therapeutics

Silence Therapeutics is developing a new generation of medicines by harnessing the body’s natural mechanism of RNA interference, or RNAi, to inhibit the expression of specific target genes thought to play a role in the pathology of diseases with significant unmet medical need. Silence’s proprietary technology can be used to engineer short interfering ribonucleic acids (siRNAs) that bind specifically to and silence, through the RNAi pathway, almost any gene in the human genome to which siRNA can be delivered. Silence’s wholly owned product candidates include SLN360 designed to address the high and prevalent unmet medical need in reducing cardiovascular risk in people born with high levels of Lipoprotein(a) and SLN124 to address beta-thalassemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. Silence is also developing SLN500, a C3 targeting program in partnership with Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals to reduce the expression of the C3 protein for the treatment of complement pathway-mediated diseases.  Silence maintains ongoing research and collaborations with AstraZeneca, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and Takeda. For more information, please visit: https://www.silence-therapeutics.com/

 

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements, including with respect to the Company’s clinical and commercial prospects. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, and projections about its industry; its beliefs; and assumptions.  Words such as 'anticipates,' 'expects,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,' 'estimates,' and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. The Company cautions security holders and prospective security holders not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the view of the Company only as of the date of this announcement. The forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. The Company will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances, or unanticipated events occurring after the date of this announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority.

 

 

Exhibit 99.2

 

 

 

Silence Therapeutics Appoints Michael H. Davidson, MD, to Board of Directors

 

Leading expert in lipidology to support Silence as it advances new approach to
treating cardiovascular disease with lead product candidate SLN360

 

6 January 2021

 

LONDON, Silence Therapeutics plc, AIM:SLN and Nasdaq: SLN (“Silence” or “the Company”), a leader in the discovery, development and delivery of novel short interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with significant unmet medical need, today announced that Michael H. Davidson, MD, has joined the Silence Board as a Non-Executive Director.

 

Iain Ross, Chairman of the Board of Silence Therapeutics commented: “Dr. Davidson’s experience as both a researcher and clinician, published author and leading expert on lipidology make him a perfect addition to our Board as we continue to strengthen our proprietary pipeline, including our wholly owned lead product candidate, SLN360, for cardiovascular disease. His unique perspectives that come from having conducted more than 1,000 clinical trials during his career will provide us with valuable insights as we look to rapidly advance our programs through clinical development.”

 

Dr. Davidson is currently a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Lipid Clinic at the University of Chicago and serves as Chief Executive Officer of New Amsterdam Pharma. During his more than 30-year career, Dr. Davidson has published more than 350 medical journal articles and authored three books on lipidology. His research background encompasses both pharmaceutical and nutritional clinical trials, including extensive research on statins, novel lipid-lowering drugs, and omega-3 fatty acids. Dr. Davidson founded the Chicago Center for Clinical Research, which became the largest investigator site in the United States and was acquired by Pharmaceutical Product Development in 1996. Additionally, he founded Omthera Pharmaceuticals in 2008, which was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2013 for $440M, and most recently, he was Founding CEO/CSO of Corvidia Therapeutics, which was acquired by Novo Nordisk for up to $2.1B in 2020.

 

As a board-certified physician in internal medicine, cardiology, and clinical lipidology, Dr. Davidson was President (2010-2011) of the National Lipid Association, named as one of The Best Doctors in America for the past 15 years and “Father of the Year” by the American Diabetes Association in 2010. He also serves on the Board of Directors of NASDAQ-listed Caladrius BioScience.

 

Mark Rothera, President and CEO of Silence Therapeutics commented: “It is a pleasure to welcome Dr. Davidson to the Board. As we advance SLN360 through the clinic this year, we look forward to benefiting from his deep expertise in cardiovascular drug development. Further, his proven track record of growing successful biotech companies will be of value to us as we continue to advance our innovative GalNAc siRNA platform globally.”

 

Michael H. Davidson, MD, incoming Silence Therapeutics Board member commented: “Silence has shown great promise with its competitive technology in RNAi, a space which has continued to grab the attention of large pharma. As a lipidology expert, I am impressed with the data obtained so far on SLN360 and I look forward to working with the rest of the Board and the Silence team as the company progresses SLN360 in the clinic this year and advances its GalNAc siRNA platform more broadly.”

 


 

 

Director Disclosures

 

The following information is disclosed pursuant to Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies:

 

Michael H. Davidson, MD

 

Full name and age: Michael Harvey Davidson (aged 64).

 

Current Directorships or Partnerships:

NewAmsterdam Pharma B.V.

Inositec AG

Sonogene LLC

Caladrius Biosciences, Inc

PHP Precision Med

 

Previous Directorships or Partnerships in the last 5 years:

Corvidia Therapeutics Inc

Cerenis Therapeutics

 

No further information in connection with his appointment is required to be disclosed under Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

 

Enquiries:

 

Silence Therapeutics plc

Gem Hopkins, Head of IR and Corporate Communications

ir@silence-therapeutics.com

 

Tel:  +1 (646) 637-3208

Investec Bank plc (Nominated Adviser and Broker)

Daniel Adams/Gary Clarence

 

Tel:  +44 (0) 20 7597 5970

European IR

Consilium Strategic Communications

Mary-Jane Elliott/ Angela Gray / Chris Welsh

silencetherapeutics@consilium-comms.com

 

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5700

U.S. IR

Westwicke Partners

Peter Vozzo

peter.vozzo@westwicke.com

 

Tel: +1 (443) 213-0505

 

About Silence Therapeutics

Silence Therapeutics is developing a new generation of medicines by harnessing the body’s natural mechanism of RNA interference, or RNAi, to inhibit the expression of specific target genes thought to play a role in the pathology of diseases with significant unmet medical need. Silence’s proprietary technology can be used to engineer short interfering ribonucleic acids (siRNAs) that bind specifically to and silence, through the RNAi pathway, almost any gene in the human genome to which siRNA can be delivered. Silence’s wholly owned product candidates include SLN360 designed to address the high and prevalent unmet medical need in reducing cardiovascular risk in people born with high levels of Lipoprotein(a) and SLN124 to address beta-thalassemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. Silence is also developing SLN500, a

 


 

C3 targeting program, in partnership with Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals to reduce the expression of the C3 protein for the treatment of complement pathway-mediated diseases.  Silence maintains ongoing research and collaborations with AstraZeneca, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and Takeda. For more information, please visit: https://www.silence-therapeutics.com/

 

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this announcement are forward-looking statements, including with respect to the Company’s clinical and commercial prospects. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, and projections about its industry; its beliefs; and assumptions.  Words such as 'anticipates,' 'expects,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,' 'estimates,' and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. The Company cautions security holders and prospective security holders not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the view of the Company only as of the date of this announcement. The forward-looking statements made in this announcement relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. The Company will not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances, or unanticipated events occurring after the date of this announcement except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority.