Director/PDMR Shareholding

Avacta Group plc                                

                            Director's Shareholding                            

Avacta Group plc (the "Company") announces that it has received notification
that on 27 March 2009, Alan Aubrey, a director of the Company, sold 4,385,000
ordinary shares of 0.1p each in the capital of the Company ("Ordinary Shares"),
and purchased within his SIPP 4,345,000 ordinary shares at 2 pence per share.
Following this transaction, Alan Aubrey is beneficially interested in
12,133,419 Ordinary Shares, representing 1.09% of the issued share capital of
the Company.

                                                                  30 March 2009

Enquiries:

Haggie Financial LLP                    Tel: [phone]                     
                                                                               
Nicholas Nelson/Kathy Boate             [e-mail]               
                                                                               
Nominated Advisor:                      Tel: [phone]                     
                                                                               
Daniel Stewart & Company plc                                                   
                                                                               
Lindsay Mair/Charlotte Stranner                                                
                                                                               
www.danielstewart.co.uk                                                        
                                                                               
Novum Securities Limited                Tel: [phone]                     
                                                                               
Henry Turcan                                                                   

Notes to Editors:

About Avacta:

Avacta was spun-out from the University of Leeds in 2004 by its current
management team as a biophysics company, with the aim of combining the
disciplines of physics and biology to develop innovative technologies and
expert technical services to address needs in the pharmaceutical, defence and
clinical diagnostics markets.

Avacta has a core bio-analytical technology development programme addressing
the needs of the biopharmaceutical sector to fully characterise their new
products at the earliest stage in their development to reduce the risk of late
stage failure. High value solutions in clinical diagnostics are also being
targeted for these core bio-analytical technologies and for Avacta's trace gas
analysis technology as well as opportunities in industrial and military sensing
applications.

A successful and growing part of the Avacta business model is its technical
services arm, Avacta Analytical Limited, which is focused on providing leading
edge contract research to the biopharmaceutical and healthcare/personal-care
materials sectors. Avacta joined AIM in August 2006.