REG - Avacta Group PLC - Appointment of Chief Business Officer

AvactaAnnouncement

19/12/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 2187X  Avacta Group PLC  19 December 2023

 

 

 
19 December 2023

 

Avacta Group plc

 

("Avacta" or "the Group" or "the Company")

 

Appointment of Chief Business Officer

 

Appointment signals commercial emphasis for Avacta to leverage clinical
progress

 

 

Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), a life sciences company developing innovative,
targeted oncology drugs and powerful diagnostics, is pleased to announce the
appointment of Dr Simon Bennett as Chief Business Officer of the Therapeutics
Division.

 

Simon has over 26 years' commercial experience in the biopharma industry. He
has worked with companies from large and mid-sized pharma such as
Bristol-Myers-Squibb and Menarini Group to early stage biotechs, supporting
business development and licensing activities in addition to being involved in
all aspects of business and corporate development. Simon has been involved in
over 80 commercial deals across Europe, North America, Australasia, Japan,
Russia/CIS and South America.

 

Dr Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group, commented:

"As Chief Business Officer, Simon will work closely with the senior management
team and lead commercial strategy and business development activities at this
exciting period in the Company's development as compelling clinical data
emerges from the AVA6000 phase 1 trial.

 

"These emerging data give us, for the first time, the opportunity to
accelerate ongoing discussions as well as to generate new opportunities
through our business development activities aimed at delivering licensing
opportunities for the pre|CISION(TM) and Affimer(®) platforms."

 

Simon's career began at University of Oxford spin-out, Oxagen Limited where he
established and built a franchise in Women's Health, initially as Programme
Director and later as Director of Business Development. He subsequently joined
next generation sequencing company Solexa where, as Business Development
Director, he was responsible for all commercial activities and external
communications leading up to the reverse takeover of Nasdaq-listed Lynx
Therapeutics to form Solexa Inc. which was later acquired by Illumina. Since
then, Simon has worked as a consultant providing expert commercial and
business development resources to a wide range of biopharmaceutical companies.
Prior to moving into industry, Simon was a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow at
the University of Oxford and an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at Imperial College
London. He has published widely, particularly in the field of complex disease
genetics.

 

Dr Simon Bennett, Chief Business Officer, Avacta Therapeutics commented:

"Avacta is at a pivotal point, having recently announced clinical data that
have already begun to generate interest from potential commercial partners. I
am delighted to be joining at such an exciting point in the journey of the
business, to help the team optimise the commercial opportunities of their
technologies and assets."

 

-Ends-

 

 

For further information from Avacta Group plc, please contact:

 

 Avacta Group plc                                                          Tel: +44 (0) 1904 21 7070

 Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer                                   www.avacta.com (http://www.avacta.com)

 Tony Gardiner, Chief Financial Officer

 Michael Vinegrad, Group Communications Director

 Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker)                   Tel: +44 (0) 207 710 7600

 Nicholas Moore / Nick Adams / Samira Essebiyea / Nick Harland / William   www.stifel.com (http://www.stifel.com/)
 Palmer-Brown

 Peel Hunt (Joint Broker)                                                  Tel: +44 (0) 207 418 8900

 James Steel / Chris Golden / Patrick Birkholm                             www.peelhunt.com (http://www.peelhunt.com)

 ICR Consilium (Media and IR)                                              avacta@consilium-comms.com (mailto:avacta@consilium-comms.com)

 Mary-Jane Elliott / Jessica Hodgson / Sukaina Virji

 

About Avacta Group plc - https://www.avacta.com (https://www.avacta.com/)

 

Avacta Group is a UK-based company focused on improving healthcare outcomes
through targeted cancer treatments and diagnostics.

 

Avacta has two divisions: an oncology biotech division harnessing proprietary
therapeutic platforms to develop novel, highly targeted cancer drugs, and a
diagnostics division, which is executing on an M&A led growth strategy to
create a full-spectrum diagnostics business focused on supporting healthcare
professionals and broadening access to testing. Avacta's two proprietary
platforms, Affimer® and pre|CISION™ underpin its cancer therapeutics whilst
the diagnostics division leverages the Affimer® platform to drive competitive
advantage in its markets.

 

The pre|CISION™ platform modifies chemotherapy to be activated only in the
tumour tissue, reducing systemic exposure and toxicity. This is achieved by
harnessing an enzyme called FAP which is highly upregulated in most solid
tumours compared with healthy tissues, turning chemotherapy into a "precision
medicine". The lead pre|CISION™ programme, AVA6000 a tumour activated form
of doxorubicin, is in Phase 1 studies and has shown dramatic improvement in
safety compared with standard doxorubicin, and early signs of clinical
activity.

 

Affimer® is a novel biologic platform which has significant technical and
commercial advantages compared with antibodies and is used both to develop
advanced immunotherapies and to improve the performance of immunodiagnostics.

 

With a balanced business and capital allocation model: a high-value oncology
pipeline supported by a revenue generating, fast-growing diagnostics business,
Avacta seeks to create long-term shareholder value alongside patient benefit.

 

To register for news alerts by email go to
https://avacta.com/investors/investor-news-email-alerts/
(https://avacta.com/investors/investor-news-email-alerts/)

 

 

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