AffyXell milestone and increased equity stake

RNS Number : 1865I

Avacta Group PLC

13 April 2022

 

13 April 2022

Avacta Group plc

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

AffyXell joint venture milestone and increased equity stake

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 a milestone equity payment has been triggered resulting in an increase in Avacta's shareholding in AffyXell Therapeutics ("AffyXell"), a joint venture between Avacta and Daewoong Pharmaceutical ("Daewoong") in South Korea.

Avacta has successfully developed and characterised Affimer^® proteins against the first target for AffyXell and has now transferred intellectual property relating to Affimer^® proteins against that target into AffyXell, triggering an agreed milestone in the joint venture agreement. In exchange for this, Avacta has received an increase in its equity stake in AffyXell, which was diluted from its founding equity stake in February 2021 when AffyXell completed a Series A financing of $7.3 million from a group of venture funds in February 2021. Avacta's shareholding in the joint venture now stands at 22%.

AffyXell was established in January 2020 by Avacta and Daewoong as a joint venture to develop novel mesenchymal stem cell ("MSC") therapies. AffyXell is combining Avacta's Affimer^® platform with Daewoong's MSC platform such that the stem cells are genetically modified to produce and secrete therapeutic Affimer^® proteins with immuno-modulatory effects in situ in the patient. The Affimer^® proteins are designed to enhance the therapeutic effects of the MSC creating a novel, next generation cell therapy platform.

Dr Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group, commented:

"AffyXell is uniquely positioned to develop novel and powerful cell therapies through the combination of two world-class technologies, Avacta's Affimer^® platform and Daewoong's proprietary technology for generating 'off-the-shelf' allogeneic MSC therapies.

"We are delighted that Affimer^® molecules have been successfully generated against the first target and that the intellectual property has been transferred to AffyXell, triggering this important milestone.

"We are working closely with our colleagues in AffyXell and Daewoong at this exciting stage in combining the two platforms to deliver cutting-edge therapies for patients."

Sengho Jeon, Chief Executive Officer of Daewoong Pharmaceutical and AffyXell Therapeutics, commented:

" Daewoong Pharmaceutical will continue the open collaboration program with Avacta through AffyXell and expand its new drug pipelines for the future.

"We will further focus on the development of next-generation cell therapies that can substantially improve the quality of life of patients suffering from intractable diseases."

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For further information from Avacta Group plc, please contact:

Avacta Group plc Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer Tony Gardiner, Chief Financial Officer Michael Vinegrad, Group Communications Director	Tel: [phone] www.avacta.com
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nomad and Broker) Nicholas Moore / Nick Adams / Fred Walsh / Nicholas Harland	Tel: [phone] www.stifel.com
FTI Consulting (Financial Media and IR) Simon Conway / Alex Shaw / George Kendrick	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Zyme Communications (Trade and Regional Media) Lily Jeffery	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

About Avacta Group plc - 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.

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