Avacta Announce Collaboration with UbiQ Bio BV

RNS Number : 6538G

Avacta Group PLC

09 May 2014

 



9th May 2014

Avacta Group plc

("Avacta" or the "Group")

Avacta announces a collaboration with UbiQ Bio BV

First of a series of new Affimer reagents which opens up an important market that is underserved by antibodies

Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), the global provider of proprietary diagnostic tools, consumables and reagents for human and animal healthcare, is pleased to announce that it has signed a collaboration deal with UbiQ Bio ("UbiQ"), a leading supplier of ubiquitylated peptides and associated assays.

Ubiquitin is a small protein that is found in humans and animals. It is naturally attached to other proteins in the cell in chains of various lengths and differing linear and branched forms. The ubiquitin-proteasome system was discovered in 2004, leading to its discoverers being awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry that year. It has become clear that "ubiquitylation" is a complex "barcode" the purpose of which is poorly understood, but it is thought to be involved in most human diseases and is now one of the most studied processes in biology with huge promise for new therapeutics and diagnostics.

Despite the huge importance of ubiquitylation, and a great deal of effort being expended by antibody companies, only two good antibodies to these various chains have been developed in the last decade. The collaboration with UbiQ, a leading provider of high quality ubiquitylated peptide targets provides Avacta with access to a wide range of the targets needed for screening its Affimer library.  The Company will also benefit from the access to UbiQ's experience, network and reputation in the field of ubiquitylation. UbiQ will receive a royalty on sale of ubiquitylation Affimers derived from the targets provided.

Avacta is also very pleased to announce that, where antibodies have struggled, it has generated its first Affimer that binds specifically to an ubiquitin chain target in only a few weeks.  Avacta is continuing to build a toolkit of Affimers for the study of ubiquitylation and will make them available as part of an on-line catalogue which will be launched during the summer of 2014.

Alastair Smith, Chief Executive of Avacta said: "This is probably the most important landmark in the Affimer story so far. Avacta is continuing to build a toolkit of Affimers for the study of ubiquitylation and will make them available as part of an on-line catalogue which will be launched during the summer of 2014. Despite huge efforts over the past ten years antibody companies have been unsuccessful in building libraries of ubiquitin specific antibodies.  Within a few weeks we have generated Affimers to a specific ubiquitin chain.  As a result of the recent financing and this collaboration with UbiQ, we now have the technology and resource and access to ubiquitin chains to create large libraries of ubiquitin specific Affimers. I expect to see a strong collaboration develop in this area with UbiQ and for us to grow a flagship catalogue of Affimers to serve this important application in the study of ubiquitylation".

Alfred Nijkerk, Chief Executive of UbiQ commented: "We are very pleased to be working with Avacta to develop Affimers that bind specifically to ubiquitin chains.  This is something that we have wanted to achieve with antibodies for a number of years but with no success, so we are delighted that Avacta has had success so early in our collaboration. We are very excited about the future of this partnership."

Enquiries:

Avacta Group plc                                                                                           Tel: [phone]

Alastair Smith, CEO                                                                                         www.avacta.com 

Tim Sykes, FD

Numis Securities Ltd

Michael Meade / Freddie Barnfield - Nominated Adviser                             Tel: [phone]

James Black - Corporate Broking                                                                   www.numiscorp.com 

Walbrook PR Ltd                                           Tel: [phone] or [e-mail] 

Anna Dunphy

Mike Wort

About Avacta Group plc - www.avacta.com

Avacta Group plc is a global provider of innovative technologies, consumables and reagents for the life science markets, from drug discovery to diagnostics. Avacta operates through three divisions:

Avacta Analytical www.avactaanalytical.com	High throughput analysis instrument, Optim, to help reduce the cost and risk of drug development.
Avacta Animal Health www.avactaanimalhealth.com	Veterinary diagnostics reference laboratory, diagnostic kits and newly launched in-clinic blood analyser, Sensipod.
Avacta Life Sciences www.avactalifesciences.com	Novel non-antibody affinity reagents called Affimers, with a wide range of Life Science applications in diagnostics, drug and biomarker discover and biotech research and development.

Avacta joined AIM in August 2006 and is based in Wetherby, England.

About UbiQ Bio BV  www.ubiqbio.com

UbiQ, spinoff of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, specializes in ubiquitin related reagents, peptides and assays. UbiQ generated some of the first commercially available custom ubiquitinated peptides and now distributes other ubiquitin related reagents worldwide. In addition to enabling drug discovery in the rapidly expanding Ubiquitin field, UbiQ is also actively developing small molecule drugs that target deubiquitylating enzymes which can be applied in specific disease indications through partnerships with leading academic institutions and companies. UbiQ is based on the Amsterdam Science Park, the Netherlands.

Enquiries:

UbiQ Bio BV                                        Alfred Nijkerk, CEO

Science Park 408                                 e: [e-mail]

1098 XH Amsterdam                           t: [phone]

the Netherlands                                  i: www.ubiqbio.com

 

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