REG - Avacta Group PLC - Q2 2025 Business Update

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RNS Number : 3813P  Avacta Group PLC  02 July 2025

Avacta Provides Q2 2025 Business Update

Outlining Progress Against Strategic Objectives

 

AVA6000 Phase 1b expansion cohorts continue to enroll with encouraging initial
signals of efficacy

Avacta strengthens the Executive Management Team and Board of Directors with
multiple additions

 

 

LONDON AND PHILADELPHIA - July 2, 2025 - Avacta Therapeutics (AIM: AVCT, 'the
Company'), a life sciences company developing innovative, targeted oncology
drugs, today provides a business update ahead of the Annual General Meeting of
Shareholders outlining progress against its strategic objectives for 2025 and
a review of upcoming milestones.

 

Christina Coughlin, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Avacta, said: "The
Company is focused on advancing our promising peptide drug conjugate pipeline
with our innovative pre|CISION(®) technology. We are making strong progress
with the clinical development of FAP-Dox (AVA6000), with patient enrollment
ongoing in multiple dose expansion cohorts of our ongoing Phase 1b study,
including triple negative breast cancer.

 

"The data continue to show a favorable tolerability profile and increasingly
durable responses in salivary gland cancers. The AVA6103 program is
progressing towards the start of a Phase 1 trial early next year, reflecting
efforts to develop a new class of medicines aimed at improving drug delivery
and patient outcomes. These advances in pre|CISION(®) will continue to drive
value in the Company for shareholders."

 

 

pre|CISION(®) Medicine Pipeline

 

 ●    FAP-Dox (AVA6000), a pre|CISION(®)-enabled form of doxorubicin chemotherapy,
      continues to progress in Phase 1b studies. During the second quarter, patient
      enrollment continued across the expansion cohorts, with early signs of
      efficacy observed, including a robust partial response in a patient with
      salivary gland cancer, with a nearly 50% reduction in tumor diameters. We
      remain on track to release the initial data in salivary gland cancer in late
      2025 and in triple negative breast cancer in H1 2026.
 ●    FAP-EXd (AVA6103), a pre|CISION(®)-enabled PDC comprised of the
      pre|CISION(®) peptide linked to exatecan, continues preclinical development.
      AVA6103 is currently in investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies with a
      Phase 1 trial anticipated to begin in the first quarter of 2026.
 ●    Multiple Data Presentations at the American Association for Cancer Research
      (AACR) Annual Congress. In April Avacta presented three posters at the AACR
      Annual Meeting, showcasing continued progress across its pipeline. These
      included an update from the salivary gland cancer cohort of the Phase 1a trial
      of FAP-Dox (AVA6000), with sustained durable responses observed in multiple
      patients. Notably, median progression free survival (PFS) had not yet been
      reached after a follow-up of 5.9 months, nearly double that reported in
      published benchmark data (Licitra et a. ESMO 2024). The two additional
      presentations featured preclinical data from Avacta's second agent, FAP-EXd
      (AVA6103), along with translational work with the proprietary
      pre|CISION(®) platform. Further updates on the next generation peptide drug
      conjugates (PDCs) are expected later in 2025.
 ●    We continue to engage with third parties across a range of commercial
      opportunities reflecting the breadth of the pre|CISION(®) platform and
      progressing these discussions remains a top priority. We are also discussing
      FAP-Dox with a range of parties who are keen to assess additional data which
      is due later this year and in H1 2026.

 

Changes to Board and Executive Management Team

 

 ●    Changes to the Board of Directors. Two directors, Richard Hughes, founder of
      Zeus Capital with deep UK capital markets experience, and David Bryant, with
      extensive commercial industry knowledge and networks, have joined the Avacta
      Board of Directors. Darlene Deptula-Hicks has resigned with immediate effect
      from the Board to enable her to focus on other business interests.
 ●    Strengthened Executive Management Team and Business Development.  David
      Liebowitz was named Chief Medical Officer on July 1, 2025. David joins Avacta
      with deep clinical development experience and publicly traded company
      experience. Avacta has also appointed Yulii Bogatyrenko as a consultant in the
      business development team on July 1, 2025, with a focus on supporting the
      Company's commercial partnership strategy. Yulii brings long experience of
      overseeing commercial deals in multiple senior level positions in large
      pharmaceutical companies in the US.

 

Addition of Broker to the Company

 

 ●    Zeus Capital was appointed a joint broker to the Company, along with Peel Hunt
      as Nomad and joint broker and Panmure Liberum as joint broker. The Company
      continues to develop traction with a range of investors as it assesses options
      to extend the Group's cash runway and to further build value in the
      pre|CISION(®) platform.

 

-Ends-

 

For further information from Avacta, please contact:

 

 Avacta Group plc                                           www.avacta.com (http://www.avacta.com/)

 Michael Vinegrad, Group Communications

 Director

 Peel Hunt (Nomad and Joint Broker)                          www.peelhunt.com (http://www.peelhunt.com)

 James Steel / Chris Golden

 Panmure Liberum (Joint Broker)                             www.panmureliberum.com (http://www.panmureliberum.com)

 Emma Earl / Will Goode / Mark Rogers

 Zeus (Joint Broker)

 James Hornigold / George Duxberry                          www.zeuscapital.co.uk (http://www.zeuscapital.co.uk)

 Dominic King

 ICR Healthcare (Europe/UK media and investors)              avacta@icrhealthcare.com (mailto:avacta@icrhealthcare.com)

 Mary-Jane Elliott / Jessica Hodgson / Stephanie Cuthbert

 Investor Contact                                           renee@thrustsc.com (mailto:renee@thrustsc.com)

 Renee Leck

 THRUST Strategic Communications

 Media Contact                                              Carly@carlyscadutoconsulting.com

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 Carly Scaduto

 Carly Scaduto Consulting

 

 

About Avacta - www.avacta.com
(https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.avacta.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7CChris.Coughlin%40avacta.com%7Ce5faa8dfbe3d49fc56f808dd35799958%7C64d2165ff9e04869bc73bfe4fc4fa9ab%7C0%7C0%7C638725518576703790%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qWTC74zmTzjVQqwaFiKeiHUwMY5RUlsvb7C%2BkLRahGU%3D&reserved=0)

Avacta Therapeutics is a clinical-stage life sciences company expanding the
reach of highly potent cancer therapies with the pre|CISION(®) platform.
pre|CISION(®) is a proprietary 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. Our innovative pipeline consists of
pre|CISION(®) peptide drug conjugates (PDC) or Affimer(®) drug conjugates
(AffDC) that leverage the tumor-specific release mechanism, providing unique
benefits over traditional antibody drug conjugates.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

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