REG - Avacta Group PLC - Issue of Equity and Total Voting Rights

AvactaAnnouncement

21/10/2024 16:00

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RNS Number : 0044J  Avacta Group PLC  21 October 2024

Avacta Group plc

 

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

 

Issue of Equity and Total Voting Rights

 

London - Oct. 21, 2024 - Avacta Therapeutics (AIM: AVCT), a life sciences
company developing innovative, targeted oncology drugs, today announces it has
issued and allotted a total of 5,930,659 new ordinary shares of 10 pence each
in the Company ("New Ordinary Shares").

 

The New Ordinary Shares are being issued in settlement of the quarterly
principal of £2.55 million and interest repayment of £0.54 million in
respect of the Company's unsecured convertible bond.

 

After settlement of the quarterly repayment, the principal remaining under the
convertible bond will be reduced by £2.55 million to £30.60 million.

 

The Company originally issued the unsecured convertible bond in October 2022
to fund the acquisition of a diagnostic business, provide additional funding
for a diagnostics roll-up strategy and provide working capital for the
Group.  More recently the Board has consistently communicated its strategy to
become a pure play biotechnology company and focus its resources on its drug
development activities. Maintaining an appropriate level of cash on the
balance sheet is fundamental for biotechnology companies at Avacta's stage of
development.

 

The Board carefully considers each payment separately as it arises and took
the following additional factors into account when determining to settle this
quarterly payment via the issue of New Ordinary Shares: the stage of the
process to divest of the Group's Diagnostics Division (which continues to
progress but remains broadly as disclosed in the Company's interim results
issued on 30 September 2024) and shareholder dilution.

 

The Avacta management team and Board continue to explore all available
pathways to provide optionality for financing its clinical therapeutics
programs over the longer term, including divestment of the Diagnostics
Division, partnering, attracting global specialist biotechnology investors and
potentially a NASDAQ dual listing, on which further updates will be provided
in the coming months.

 

Application has been made to AIM for the admission to trading of the 5,930,659
New Ordinary Shares resulting from the conversion, which is expected to occur
at or around 8.00 am on 23 October 2024 ("Admission"). The New Ordinary Shares
will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares of the Company.

 

Following Admission, the Company's enlarged issued share capital will be
369,306,389. This figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the
denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are
required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the
share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's
Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

 

For further information from Avacta Group plc, please contact:

 

 Avacta Group plc

 Michael Vinegrad, Group Communications Director       https://avacta.com/ (https://avacta.com/)
 Peel Hunt (Nomad and Broker)                          www.peelhunt.com (http://www.peelhunt.com)

 James Steel / Chris Golden / Patrick Birkholm
 ICR Consilium

 Mary-Jane Elliott / Jessica Hodgson / Sukaina Virji   avacta@consilium-comms.com (mailto:avacta@consilium-comms.com)

 

About the pre|CISION(®) Platform

The pre|CISION(®) platform comprises an anticancer payload conjugated to a
proprietary peptide that is a highly specific substrate for fibroblast
activation protein (FAP) which is upregulated in most solid tumors compared
with healthy tissues. The pre|CISION(®) platform harnesses this tumor
specific protease to cleave pre|CISION(®) peptide drug conjugates and
pre|CISION(®) antibody/Affimer(®) drug conjugates in the tumor
microenvironment, thus releasing active payload in the tumor and reducing
systemic exposure and toxicity, allowing dosing to be optimized to deliver the
best outcomes for patients.

About AVA6000

The lead pre|CISION(®) program AVA6000, a peptide drug conjugate form of
doxorubicin, is in Phase 1 studies. It has shown an improvement in safety and
tolerability in clinical trials to date compared with standard doxorubicin and
preliminary signs of clinical activity in multiple patients.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/) .

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

Avacta Group is a UK-based life sciences company focused on improving
healthcare outcomes through targeted cancer treatments and diagnostics. Its
clinical stage oncology biotech division Avacta Therapeutics is harnessing the
proprietary pre|CISION(®) platform technology to develop novel, highly
targeted cancer drugs. Avacta Diagnostics focuses on supporting healthcare
professionals and broadening access to diagnostics. 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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