Avacta Group PLC Drug discovery partnership
March 23 2015 - 3:01AM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMAVCT
Avacta Group PLC
23 March 2015
23 March 2015
Avacta Group plc
("Avacta" or "the Group")
Drug discovery partnership
Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), the global provider of proprietary
diagnostic tools, consumables and reagents for human and animal
healthcare, announces that it has entered into a commercial
partnership with PhoreMost Limited, ("PhoreMost") to discover and
commercialise new drug targets, Affimer reagents and
therapeutics.
PhoreMost is a UK based drug discovery company headed by Chris
Torrance who also founded Horizon Discovery and led it to become
the fastest growing biotech company in the UK. Recently Chris
established PhoreMost which is aiming to identify new druggable
targets in cancer and other diseases using its novel SiteSeeker
technology - a screening platform that can rapidly identify
unexpected, or hidden drug targets that cannot be found readily
using conventional methods.
The SiteSeeker technology requires a large library of binding
proteins for which Affimers are ideal. SiteSeeker uses live cells,
in what is called a phenotypic screen, to probe for unexpected and
unexploited drug targets. PhoreMost aims to use Affimers in tandem
with SiteSeeker to discover new drug targets and screen for small
molecule therapeutics that act on these targets. In addition, this
discovery programme will generate novel Affimers which could be
used as reagents to assist in the drugs' development, or as
therapeutics themselves.
Under the terms of the agreement, Avacta is entitled to a
royalty on PhoreMost's revenues that are generated using Affimers
including near term services income from R&D partnerships, and
on license income and future sales of all assets that are generated
such as the new drug targets and small molecule therapeutics, as
well as novel Affimers.
Dr Alastair Smith, Group Chief Executive commented: "This
programme is yet another example where Affimers provide not just an
alternative to antibodies but also an opportunity to do something
revolutionary, for which Affimers may be uniquely suited, in
discovering new small molecule drug targets and therapeutics.
"PhoreMost has a novel and powerful technology in SiteSeeker for
addressing so called "undruggable" targets and Affimers provide an
ideal protein library for this purpose. The value to Avacta is two
fold: firstly, from a share in the near term income from
PhoreMost's R&D partnerships and secondly, in the upside from
the licensing of new drug targets and new drugs discovered using
Affimers, as well as the Affimers themselves.
It is extremely exciting to be working with Chris, who has a
world-class track record and had great success with Horizon in this
area, in his new venture. I very much look forward to seeing this
partnership develop."
Enquiries:
Avacta Group plc Tel: +44 (0)
Alastair Smith, Chief Executive 844 414 0452
Officer www.avacta.com
Tim Sykes, Chief Financial Officer
Numis Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0)
Michael Meade / Freddie Barnfield 207 260 1000
- Nominated Adviser www.numiscorp.com
James Black - Corporate Broking
Media Enquiries Tel: +44 (0)
Walbrook PR Ltd 207 933 8780
Mike Wort / Anna Dunphy avacta@walbrookpr.com
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 two divisions:
Avacta Animal Veterinary diagnostics reference
Health laboratory and diagnostic kit
www.avactaanimalhealth.com provider.
---------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Avacta Life Sciences Novel non-antibody affinity
www.avactalifesciences.com reagents called Affimers, with
a wide range of Life Science
applications in diagnostics,
drug and biomarker discover
and biotech research and development.
---------------------------- ---------------------------------------
About PhoreMost
PhoreMost is a new-model drug discovery company based in
Cambridge, UK. Using its core expertise to open up new 'druggable'
target space and working with a global network of co-invested
academic and industrial collaboration partners, they aim to bring a
wide array of novel 'targeted' therapies more efficiently to market
and pass these cost savings onto patients.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
NRAPKKDNABKDBNB
Avacta (LSE:AVCT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Avacta (LSE:AVCT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024