TIDMAVCT
RNS Number : 3664P
Avacta Group PLC
10 October 2019
10 October 2019
Avacta Group plc
("Avacta" or "the Group" or "the Company")
Collaboration and Option Agreement with ADC Therapeutics
Focus on developing potent Affimer-drug conjugates
Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), (Cambridge and Wetherby UK), a
biotechnology company developing novel cancer immunotherapies based
on its proprietary Affimer(R) platform, today announces that it has
entered a collaboration and option agreement with ADC Therapeutics
SA (Lausanne, CH), a clinical-stage oncology-focused biotechnology
company pioneering the development of highly potent and targeted
antibody-drug conjugates for patients suffering from haematological
malignancies and solid tumors. The agreement is to develop
Affimer-drug conjugates combining Avacta's Affimer(R) technology
with ADC Therapeutics' pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD)-based warhead
and linker technologies.
As part of the multi-target collaboration Avacta will generate
and optimise Affimer(R) binders against three undisclosed cancer
targets and provide these to ADC Therapeutics to target its
proprietary cytotoxic warheads (PBDs) to the site of the tumour.
ADC Therapeutics will carry out pre-clinical research and
development programmes to evaluate each of the Affimer-drug
conjugates with a view to generating clinical candidates.
The commercial agreement between the two companies provides ADC
Therapeutics with options, on a target by target basis, to obtain
exclusive licenses to the Affimer(R) proteins for clinical
development and commercialisation.
Under the terms of the agreement, ADC Therapeutics will cover
all Avacta's costs during the collaboration. Upon ADC Therapeutics
entering into each of the commercialisation licenses and
successfully bringing new Affimer-drug conjugates to market, Avacta
will receive option fees, development and commercialization
milestones, as well as a single-digit royalty on sales. Further
financial details are not disclosed.
Dr Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group,
commented:
"I am delighted to have established this collaboration with ADC
Therapeutics to develop drug conjugates that harness the benefits
of Affimer proteins to selectively and efficiently target ADC
Therapeutics' PBD drugs to the site of the tumour. We are very
excited about the potential of this collaboration to develop
breakthrough oncology treatments, and about its considerable
commercial value to Avacta.
We look forward to working closely with the ADC Therapeutics
team to generate new Affimer-drug conjugates and advance these
promising cancer treatments into the clinic."
THE INFORMATION COMMUNICATED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS INSIDE
INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF REGULATION
596/2014.
For further information from Avacta Group plc, please
contact:
Avacta Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 844 414 0452
Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer www.avacta.com
Tony Gardiner, Chief Financial Officer
finnCap Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 207 220 0500
Geoff Nash / Giles Rolls - Nominated www.finncap.com
Adviser
Tim Redfern -ECM
Tel: +44 (0) 203 705 9318
WG Partners Tel: +44 (0) 203 705 9217
Nigel Birks / Nigel Barnes www.wgpartners.co.uk
David Wilson / Claes Spang
Turner Pope Investments Tel: +44 (0) 203 657 0050
Andy Thacker / Zoe Alexander www.turnerpope.com
Zyme Communications (Trade and Regional Tel: +44 (0)7787 502 947
Media) katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com
Katie Odgaard
Yellow Jersey (Financial Media and Tel: +44 (0)7764 947137
IR) Tel: +44 (0)7544 275882
Sarah Hollins avacta@yellowjerseypr.com
Harriet Jackson
About Avacta Group plc - https://www.avacta.com
Avacta is developing novel cancer immunotherapies combining its
two proprietary platforms - Affimer(R) biotherapeutics and tumour
targeted chemotherapy. With this approach, the Company aims to
address the lack of a durable response to current immunotherapies
experienced by most patients. The Company's therapeutics
development activities are based in Cambridge, UK.
The Company benefits from near-term revenues generated from
Affimer reagents for diagnostics, bioprocessing and research,
through a separate business unit based in Wetherby, UK.
The Affimer platform is an alternative to antibodies derived
from a small human protein. Despite their shortcomings, antibodies
currently dominate markets worth in excess of $100bn. Affimer
technology has been designed to address many of these negative
performance issues, principally: the time taken, and the reliance
on an animal's immune response, to generate new antibodies; poor
specificity in many cases; large size and cost.
Avacta's proprietary targeted chemotherapy platform, releases
active drug only in the tumour, thereby limiting systemic exposure
and improving the overall safety and therapeutic potential of these
powerful anti-cancer treatments.
By combining these two platforms the Company is building a
wholly owned pipeline of novel cancer therapies with the aim of
creating effective treatments for all cancer patients including
those who do not respond to existing immunotherapies. Avacta
expects to take its first drug, a targeted form of the
standard-of-care Doxorubicin, into the clinic in Q2 2020 of 2020
and to follow on with an IND/CTA submission for the first Affimer
programme, a PD-L1 antagonist, in Q4 2020.
Avacta has established drug development partnerships with pharma
and biotech, including with Moderna Therapeutics Inc., and a deal
with LG Chem worth up to $310m, and actively seeks to license its
proprietary platforms in a range of therapeutic areas.
Avacta reagents business unit works with partners world-wide to
develop Affimers for evaluation by those third parties with the
objective of establishing royalty bearing license deals with a
particular focus on the diagnostics sector. The Company is also
developing a small in-house pipeline of Affimer-based diagnostic
assays for licensing.
To register for news alerts by email go to
www.avacta.com/investor-news-email-alerts
About ADC Therapeutics (www.adctherapeutics.com)
ADC Therapeutics SA is an oncology drug discovery and
development company that specializes in the development of
proprietary antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting major
hematological malignancies and solid tumors. The Company's ADCs are
highly targeted biopharmaceutical drugs that combine monoclonal
antibodies specific to surface antigens present on particular tumor
cells with a novel class of highly potent pyrrolobenzodiazepine
(PBD)-based warheads via a chemical linker.
The Company has five PBD-based ADCs in ongoing clinical trials,
ranging from first in human to pivotal Phase II, in the USA and
Europe, and a deep pipeline of other preclinical ADCs in
development. ADC Therapeutics has world-class partners, including
AstraZeneca and its global biologics research and development arm,
MedImmune.
ADC Therapeutics is based in Lausanne (Biopôle), Switzerland and
has operations in London, San Francisco and New Jersey.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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