REG - Avacta Group PLC - Directorate Change

AvactaAnnouncement

21/03/2022 07:15

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RNS Number : 3661F  Avacta Group PLC  21 March 2022

 
21 March 2022

 

Avacta Group plc

 

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

 

Directorate Change

 

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, announces the appointment of Christina Coughlin,
M.D., Ph.D., as Non-executive Director to the Board with immediate effect.

 

Dr. Coughlin is the Chief Executive Officer of CytoImmune Therapeutics, Inc.,
a clinical stage biotechnology company, focused on the development and
commercialisation of novel cancer immunotherapy products utilising engineered
allogeneic natural killer cells to stimulate the patient's immune system and
eliminate cancer cells. Dr. Coughlin has a broad background in biotechnology
and global pharmaceuticals, with comprehensive drug development experience
spanning programmes in pre-Investigational New Drug (IND) studies through
late-stage trials and regulatory approval filings, and a track record of
building drug development teams in global companies.

 

Dr. Coughlin previously served as Chief Medical Officer to Rubius
Therapeutics, Inc., where she led the clinical development, translational
medicine and regulatory efforts for the company's programmes emerging from its
allogeneic red cell therapy platform. Prior to Rubius, Dr. Coughlin was with
Tmunity Therapeutics, Inc., where she served as Chief Medical Officer and was
responsible for the development of autologous CAR-T and TCR-T cellular
therapies.

 

Dr. Coughlin has held other leadership roles in the pharmaceutical and
biotechnology fields in her career, including Chief Medical Officer at
Immunocore, heading the development of the soluble TCR platform, and Oncology
Asset Team Leader at Pfizer. Dr. Coughlin received her M.D. and Ph.D. from the
University of Pennsylvania and completed fellowships in Haematology and
Oncology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and in the Translational
Research Group under the direction of Carl June, M.D., at the University of
Pennsylvania.

 

Dr. Christina Coughlin, commented:

"I find the Affimer(®) and pre|CISION™ platforms to be highly innovative in
the oncology field. I look forward to joining the Board and working with my
new colleagues and the Avacta management team to develop novel therapies that
will improve the lives of patients suffering from cancer."

 

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

"I am very pleased, indeed, to welcome Christina to Avacta and the Board.
Christina is a vastly experienced biotech executive and oncologist, and Avacta
will benefit greatly from her knowledge and expertise in shaping the future
strategy for the therapeutic business."

 

Dr. Eliot Forster, Chairman of Avacta Group, commented:

"I am delighted that Christina will be joining the Board of Avacta. Christina
will bring a wealth of clinical and drug development experience and expertise
which will be invaluable as we progress our pipeline of proprietary
Affimer(®) and pre|CISION™ programmes in the clinic. I look forward to
working with her again on the Avacta Board."

 

-Ends -

 

Regulatory disclosure - The following information is disclosed in accordance
with Rule 17 and paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 of the AIM Rules for Companies.

 

Dr. Christina Marie Coughlin, 51, holds no ordinary shares in the Company. Dr.
Coughlin's current and previous directorships are as follows:

 

Current Directorships/Partnerships:

 

CytoImmune Therapeutics, LLC (California)

CytoImmune Therapeutics, LLC (New Jersey)

CytoImmune Therapeutics, LLC (Delaware)

 

Directorships/Partnerships held in last 5 years:

 

None

 

Save for the disclosures above, there are no further disclosures to be made in
accordance with Rule 17 and Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules.

 

 

For further information from Avacta Group plc, please contact:

 

 Avacta Group plc

 Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer                       Tel: +44 (0) 844 414 0452

 Tony Gardiner, Chief Financial Officer                        www.avacta.com (http://www.avacta.com)

 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                                      Avacta.LS@fticonsulting.com (mailto:Avacta.LS@fticonsulting.com)

 Zyme Communications (Trade and Regional Media)                Tel: +44 (0)7787 502 947

 Katie Odgaard                                                 katie.odgaard@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 derived from a small
human protein. Despite their shortcomings, antibodies currently dominate
markets, such as diagnostics and therapeutics, worth in excess of $100bn.
Affimer technology has been designed to address many of these negative
performance issues, principally: the time taken to generate new antibodies and
the reliance on an animal's immune response; poor specificity in many cases;
their large size, complexity and high cost of manufacture.

 

Avacta's pre|CISION™ targeted chemotherapy platform releases active
chemotherapy in the tumour, which limits the systemic exposure that causes
damage to healthy tissues, and thereby improves the overall safety and
therapeutic potential of these powerful anti-cancer treatments.

 

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

 

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 deliver a more tolerable and
durable treatment response for oncology patients who do not respond to
existing immunotherapies. By combining its two proprietary platforms the Group
is building a wholly owned pipeline of clinically differentiated cancer
therapies, aiming to extend the therapeutic benefits to all cancer patients.
In 2021 Avacta transitioned to become a clinical stage biopharmaceutical
company, commencing a phase I first-in-human, open label, dose-escalation and
expansion study of AVA6000, a pro-doxorubicin, the Group's lead pre|CISION™
prodrug, in patients with locally advanced or metastatic selected solid
tumours.

 

Avacta has established drug development partnerships with pharma and biotech,
including a research collaboration with ModernaTX, Inc. (formerly Moderna
Therapeutics Inc.), 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 collaboration
with Point Biopharma to develop radiopharmaceuticals based on the
pre|CISION™ platform. Avacta continues to actively seek to license its
proprietary platforms in a range of therapeutic areas.

 

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

 

 

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