REG - Avacta Group PLC - AffyXell milestone and increased equity stake

AvactaAnnouncement

13/04/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 1865I  Avacta Group PLC  13 April 2022

13 April 2022

 

Avacta Group plc

 

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

 

AffyXell joint venture milestone and increased equity stake

 

Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), a clinical stage oncology drug company and
developer of powerful diagnostics based on its innovative Affimer(®) and
pre|CISION™ platforms, is pleased to announce that a milestone equity
payment has been triggered resulting in an increase in Avacta's shareholding
in AffyXell Therapeutics ("AffyXell"), a joint venture between Avacta and
Daewoong Pharmaceutical ("Daewoong") in South Korea.

 

Avacta has successfully developed and characterised Affimer(®) proteins
against the first target for AffyXell and has now transferred intellectual
property relating to Affimer(®) proteins against that target into AffyXell,
triggering an agreed milestone in the joint venture agreement. In exchange for
this, Avacta has received an increase in its equity stake in AffyXell, which
was diluted from its founding equity stake in February 2021 when AffyXell
completed a Series A financing of $7.3 million from a group of venture funds
in February 2021. Avacta's shareholding in the joint venture now stands at
22%.

 

AffyXell was established in January 2020 by Avacta and Daewoong as a joint
venture to develop novel mesenchymal stem cell ("MSC") therapies. AffyXell is
combining Avacta's Affimer(®) platform with Daewoong's MSC platform such that
the stem cells are genetically modified to produce and secrete therapeutic
Affimer(®) proteins with immuno-modulatory effects in situ in the patient.
The Affimer(®) proteins are designed to enhance the therapeutic effects of
the MSC creating a novel, next generation cell therapy platform.

 

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

"AffyXell is uniquely positioned to develop novel and powerful cell therapies
through the combination of two world-class technologies, Avacta's Affimer(®)
platform and Daewoong's proprietary technology for generating 'off-the-shelf'
allogeneic MSC therapies.

 

"We are delighted that Affimer(®) molecules have been successfully generated
against the first target and that the intellectual property has been
transferred to AffyXell, triggering this important milestone.

 

"We are working closely with our colleagues in AffyXell and Daewoong at this
exciting stage in combining the two platforms to deliver cutting-edge
therapies for patients."

 

Sengho Jeon, Chief Executive Officer of Daewoong Pharmaceutical and AffyXell
Therapeutics, commented:

"Daewoong Pharmaceutical will continue the open collaboration program with
Avacta through AffyXell and expand its new drug pipelines for the future.

 

"We will further focus on the development of next-generation cell therapies
that can substantially improve the quality of life of patients suffering from
intractable diseases."

 

- ENDS -

 

For further information from Avacta Group plc, please contact:

 

 Avacta Group plc                                              Tel: +44 (0) 844 414 0452

 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 Broker)             Tel: +44 (0) 207 710 7600

 Nicholas Moore / Nick Adams / Fred Walsh / Nicholas Harland   www.stifel.com (http://www.stifel.com/)

 FTI Consulting (Financial Media and IR)                       Tel: +44(0) 203 727 1000

 Simon Conway / Alex Shaw / George Kendrick                    Avacta.LS@fticonsulting.com (mailto:Avacta.LS@fticonsulting.com)

 Zyme Communications (Trade and Regional Media)                Tel: +44 (0)7891 477 378

 Lily Jeffery                                                  lily.jeffery@zymecommunications.com

                                                             (mailto:katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com)

 

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

 

Avacta Group is developing novel cancer immunotherapies and powerful
diagnostics based on its two proprietary platforms - Affimer(®) biologics and
pre|CISION™ tumour targeted chemotherapies.

 

The Affimer(®) platform is an alternative to antibodies and is derived from a
small human protein. Affimer technology has been designed to address many of
the negative issues of antibodies, principally: the time taken to generate new
antibodies, the reliance on an animal's immune response; poor specificity in
many cases; in addition to, the complexity and high cost of manufacture.
Despite these shortcomings, antibodies currently dominate markets, such as
diagnostics and therapeutics, which are worth in excess of $100bn.

 

Avacta's pre|CISION™ targeted chemotherapy platform is designed to
selectively release active chemotherapy in FAP rich tumour tissue to limit the
systemic exposure that causes damage to healthy tissues, and thereby aims to
improve the overall safety and therapeutic potential of these powerful
anti-cancer treatments.

 

The Avacta Group comprises two divisions: The therapeutics development
activities are based in London and Cambridge, UK and a separate diagnostics
business unit is based in Wetherby, UK. The Group is generating near-term
revenues from Affimer(®) reagents for diagnostics, bioprocessing and
research.

 

Avacta's Diagnostics Division is developing an in-house pipeline of
Affimer-based diagnostic assays, including the AffiDX(®) SARS-CoV-2 Lateral
Flow Rapid Antigen Test, and works with partners world-wide to develop bespoke
Affimer(®) reagents for third party products.

 

Avacta's Therapeutics Division is working to generate more tolerable and
durable treatments for oncology patients who do not respond to existing
therapies. By combining its two proprietary platforms the Group is building a
wholly owned pipeline of clinically differentiated cancer therapies. In 2021
Avacta transitioned to become a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, when
it commenced a phase I trial in patients with locally advanced or metastatic
selected solid tumours. The study was a first-in-human, open label,
dose-escalation and expansion study of the Group's lead pre|CISION™ prodrug,
AVA6000 (a pro-doxorubicin).

 

Avacta has established drug development partnerships with pharma and biotech,
including a multi-target deal with LG Chem worth up to $400m, a joint venture
in South Korea with Daewoong Pharmaceutical focused on cell and gene therapies
incorporating Affimer immune-modulators and a recent license agreement with
Point Biopharma for them to develop radiopharmaceuticals based on the
pre|CISION™ platform.

 

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(http://www.avacta.com/investor-news-email-alerts)

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