RCS - Avacta Group PLC - Christina Coughlin - In Vivo 2026 Rising Leader

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RNS Number : 4274A  Avacta Group PLC  14 April 2026

 

 

Avacta CEO Christina Coughlin Named as One of In Vivo's 2026 Rising Leaders

 

 

LONDON and PHILADELPHIA - April 14, 2026 - Avacta Therapeutics (AIM: AVCT,
"the Company", "Avacta"), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company
developing pre|CISION(®), a tumor-activated oncology delivery platform,
today announces that the life sciences industry publication In Vivo, published
by Citeline, has named its CEO Christina Coughlin MD, PhD as one of its 2026
Rising Leaders.

 

In Vivo is a leading strategic business publication providing news, analysis
and insights for the biopharma, medtech and diagnostics industries. The 30
people spotlighted on the Rising Stars list are selected by In Vivo's
editorial board, with the focus on entrepreneurs and innovators who represent
the next wave of creativity in healthcare.

 

Dr. Coughlin's story is here
(https://insights.citeline.com/in-vivo/leadership/rising-leaders/rising-leaders-2026-christina-coughlins-pioneering-immuno-oncology-career-2QYSTENFXJHYTNAPVB52D4MSHU/)
.

 

Shaun Chilton, Chairman of Avacta, commented:

 

"Following her time as a practicing oncologist, Chris turned her focus over 20
years ago to the biopharma industry and began her search to find the cure,
inspired her own personal story of the impact of cancer in her life.

In the two years since Chris was appointed as our Chief Executive Officer, she
has rapidly developed Avacta's unique approach to treating cancer with its
proprietary technology, pre|CISION(®). She leads the company's international
team with a clear vision to conquer cancer by expanding the reach of existing
therapies, while preserving patient vitality and healing. In a world where
effective cancer therapy often means a difficult trade-off between efficacy
and safety, pre|CISION can offer something different: hope without compromise.

Indeed, the skills that Chris and her extraordinarily talented team bring to
bear could not be more clearly demonstrated than by one of the drug
candidates, AVA6103, moving from discovery to first patients treated in a
Phase 1a trial in just 24 months - an incredibly rapid time frame.

Chris is a very worthy selection as one of In Vivo's 30 Rising Leaders and
we are proud of both her recognition and to have her as our CEO. This is a
well-deserved recognition."

 

-Ends-

 

 

For further information from Avacta, please contact:

 

 Avacta Group plc                                   https://avacta.com/ (https://avacta.com/)

 Christina Coughlin, Chief Executive Officer        via Cohesion Bureau

 Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser)          www.strandhanson.co.uk (http://www.strandhanson.co.uk)

 James Harris / Chris Raggett / James Dance

 Zeus (Broker)                                      www.zeuscapital.co.uk (http://www.zeuscapital.co.uk)

 James Hornigold / George Duxberry / Dominic King

 Cohesion Bureau                                    avacta@cohesionbureau.com (mailto:avacta@cohesionbureau.com)

 Communications / Media / Investors

 Richard Jarvis

 

About Avacta - https://avacta.com/ (https://avacta.com/)

Avacta Therapeutics is a clinical-stage life sciences company expanding the
reach of highly potent cancer therapies through its proprietary pre|CISION(®)
platform. pre|CISION(®) is a payload delivery system based on a
tumor-specific protease (Fibroblast Activation Protein or FAP) that is
designed to concentrate highly potent payloads in the tumor microenvironment
while sparing normal tissues. Avacta's innovative pre|CISION(®) peptide drug
conjugates (PDC) are a novel entry to the XDC drug class, leveraging the
success of antibody drug conjugates with alternative methods of delivery
beyond antibodies.

 

Our pre|CISION(®) PDCs leverage this tumor-specific release mechanism to
provide unique benefits over traditional antibody drug conjugates, releasing
active payload in the tumor and reducing systemic exposure and toxicity which
enables dosing to be optimized to deliver the best outcomes for patients. The
lead clinical program is faridoxorubicin (AVA6000), a Gen One FAP-enabled
pre|CISION(®) version of doxorubicin that delivers the payload directly in
the tumor with limited peripheral blood exposure and has demonstrated
preliminary activity in tumor types sensitive to doxorubicin including
salivary gland cancer and soft tissue sarcoma.

 

About FAP-Exd (AVA6103)

 

AVA6103 is the second clinical candidate and is the first asset in the
pipeline based on the Gen Two innovative pre|CISION(®) sustained release
mechanism that provides for prolonged release of payload directly in the
tumor, minimizing systemic exposure.  AVA6103 is being evaluated in the
FOCUS-01 Phase 1 trial (FAP-Exd in Oncologic Cancers with Unmet needS).
Preclinical data suggest this approach has optimized payload delivery with a
high intratumoral concentration and prolonged exposure of released payload in
the tumor, coupled with limited systemic exposure to the released payload.

 

 

 

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