REG - Avacta Group PLC - Board Director Changes

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RNS Number : 1193G  Avacta Group PLC  29 May 2026

 

Board Director Changes

 

LONDON and PHILADELPHIA - May 29, 2026 - Avacta Therapeutics (AIM: AVCT, "the
Company", "Avacta"), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing
pre|CISION(®), a tumor-activated oncology delivery platform, today announced
that Richard Hughes, one of Avacta's non-executive Directors, will become
non-executive Chairman of Avacta following the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on
June 22, 2026.

 

Shaun Chilton, who was appointed to the Board in 2022 and has served as
non-executive Chairman since 2024, has decided not to seek re-election at the
AGM. He will remain available to the Company as an advisor to the CEO and
Board of Directors.

 

Richard Hughes was appointed a non-executive Director in May 2025.  He has
had a long and successful career in UK capital markets with over 30 years'
corporate finance experience.  He was a founder shareholder and a director of
boohoo.com and a majority shareholder of Crawford Healthcare. He is a Director
of Zeus Group.

 

The Company is conducting a recruitment process for a non-executive Deputy
Chairman who will serve as the Senior Independent Director, with proven
international expertise in the biotechnology sector, to support the Board as
it guides the company through the ongoing development of its pipeline and
engagement with potential partners from the pharma sector.  The process is
currently ongoing to recruit an individual to fill these roles.

 

Christina Coughlin, CEO of Avacta, commented:

 

"On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Shaun for his considerable
contribution over the last four years as a Director, and most recently as our
Chairman. During Shaun's tenure, Avacta has become a tightly focused
clinical-stage biotechnology company developing valuable cancer therapeutics
from its increasingly validated proprietary pre|CISION(®) platform. I am
deeply grateful for his leadership and the strong working relationship we have
shared throughout this ongoing transition. We wish him all the best.

 

"We are delighted to welcome Richard Hughes as Avacta's non-executive Chairman
as part of this transition plan. Richard brings extensive experience which
will be important for Avacta as we continue to deliver on the unique
advantages of our pre|CISION(®) platform, now with two products progressing
through clinical development. I look forward to working with Richard in his
new capacity as Chairman."

 

 

-Ends-

 

 

 

 

For further information from Avacta, please contact:

 

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

 Christina Coughlin, Chief Executive Officer           via Cohesion Bureau

 Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser)             www.strandhanson.co.uk (http://www.strandhanson.co.uk)

 James Harris / Chris Raggett / James Dance

 Zeus (Broker)                                         www.zeuscapital.co.uk (http://www.zeuscapital.co.uk)

​James Hornigold / George Duxberry / Dominic King

 Cohesion Bureau                                       avacta@cohesionbureau.com (mailto:avacta@cohesionbureau.com)

 Communications / Media / Investors

 Richard Jarvis

 

 

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

 

Avacta Therapeutics is a clinical-stage life sciences company expanding the
reach of highly potent cancer therapies through its proprietary pre|CISION(®)
platform. pre|CISION(®) is a 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. Avacta's innovative pre|CISION(®) peptide drug
conjugates (PDC) are a novel entry to the XDC drug class, leveraging the
success of antibody drug conjugates with alternative methods of delivery
beyond antibodies.

 

Our pre|CISION(®) PDCs leverage this tumor-specific release mechanism to
provide unique benefits over traditional antibody drug conjugates, releasing
active payload in the tumor and reducing systemic exposure and toxicity which
enables dosing to be optimized to deliver the best outcomes for patients. The
lead clinical program is faridoxorubicin (AVA6000), a Gen One FAP-enabled
pre|CISION(®) version of doxorubicin that delivers the payload directly in
the tumor with limited peripheral blood exposure and has demonstrated
preliminary activity in tumor types sensitive to doxorubicin including
salivary gland cancer and soft tissue sarcoma.

 

About FAP-Exd (AVA6103)

 

AVA6103 is the second clinical candidate and is the first asset in the
pipeline based on the Gen Two innovative pre|CISION(®) sustained release
mechanism that provides for prolonged release of payload directly in the
tumor, minimizing systemic exposure.  AVA6103 is being evaluated in the
FOCUS-01 Phase 1 trial (FAP-Exd in Oncologic Cancers with Unmet needS).
Preclinical data suggest this approach has optimized payload delivery with a
high intratumoral concentration and prolonged exposure of released payload in
the tumor, coupled with limited systemic exposure to the released payload.

 

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