REG - Avacta Group PLC - Poster presented at the AACR available to download

AvactaAnnouncement

12/04/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 0346I  Avacta Group PLC  12 April 2022

12 April 2022

 

Avacta Group plc

 

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

 

Poster presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual
Meeting available to download

 

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 the poster it presented
at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) 2022 Annual Meeting,
entitled 'AVA6000, a novel pre|CISION™ medicine, targeted to the tumor
microenvironment via Fibroblast Activation Protein (FAP) mediated cleavage' is
now available to download from the Company's website.

 

The poster, which was presented by Dr. Fiona McLaughlin, Chief Scientific
Officer, and Neil Bell, Chief Development Officer, describes the pre-clinical
rationale for the company's leading oncology candidate, AVA6000. AVA6000 is a
FAP (fibroblast activation protein α) activated doxorubicin therapeutic and
utilises Avacta's pre|CISION™ platform to improve the safety and therapeutic
index of doxorubicin.

 

AVA6000 has been designed to limit cell penetration of the drug, and therefore
its cell killing effect, until it is specifically activated by FAP, which is
in high concentration in many solid tumours compared with healthy tissues. The
resulting reduced exposure of healthy tissues to active doxorubicin has the
potential to significantly increase its therapeutic index by reducing the
incidence of adverse effects, including cardiotoxicity and myelosuppression.

 

A first-in-human Phase I clinical trial (ALS-6000-101) has been initiated in
the UK in a broad spectrum of high FAP expressing tumours.

 

The poster can be downloaded from Avacta's website at:
www.avacta.com/about/resources (http://www.avacta.com/about/resources) .

 

- 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.

 

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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