Avacta Announces First Patient Dosed in AVA6000 Pro-Doxorubicin Phase 1 Clinical Trial

Dose escalation phase anticipated to complete by Q2 2022

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 the first patient has been dosed in the Company’s Phase I multi-centre trial evaluating AVA6000, a novel pro-drug of Doxorubicin and Avacta’s first therapeutic product based on its proprietary pre|CISION™ technology.

Anthracyclines such as Doxorubicin, a generic chemotherapy for which the market is expected to grow to $1.38bn by 2024, are widely used as part of standard of care in several tumour types, but their use is limited by cumulative toxicity, and, in particular, cardiotoxicity. Avacta’s pre|CISION™ pro-drug approach is designed to reduce the systemic exposure of healthy tissues to the active chemotherapy, leading to improved safety and therapeutic index, potentially resulting in improved dosing regimens, better efficacy and better outcomes for patients.

This trial of AVA6000 is a dose-escalation Phase I study in patients with locally advanced or metastatic selected solid tumours, known to be FAP-positive, in which cohorts of patients receive ascending doses of AVA6000 to determine the maximum tolerated dose and establish a recommended Phase II dose. The second part of the study is an expansion phase where patients receive AVA6000 to further evaluate the safety, tolerability and clinical activity at this recommended Phase II dose across selected tumour types. For more information visit www.clinicaltrials.com (NCT04969835).

The first patient has received their first dose of AVA6000 at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. The Phase I study is being initiated across a small group of leading UK cancer centres with an established reputation for early cancer clinical research in the Phase I setting. The dose escalation phase is anticipated to complete by Q2 2022 followed by completion of the dose expansion phase by Q2 2023.

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

“The initiation of the first in human Phase I clinical study for AVA6000 marks the transformation of Avacta into a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company. It is an outstanding achievement by the team and we are extremely proud of what has already been achieved since the establishment of the collaboration with Professor William Bachovchin at Tufts University Medical School to develop the pre|CISION^TM technology for tumour targeting.

“We are delighted to be working on the AVA6000 study with global key opinion leaders in oncology drug development at world-class oncology clinical trial sites in UK on this important pro-drug approach to improving the safety and efficacy of chemotherapies.

“If the study shows that the pre|CISION^TM technology is effective in reducing systemic toxicity of Doxorubicin in humans, then that would open up an extensive and proprietary pipeline for Avacta of next-generation pre|CISION^TM pro-drug chemotherapies with significant clinical and commercial advantages in a chemotherapy market that is expected to exceed $74 billion by 2027.”

Neil Bell, Chief Development Officer, Avacta Life Sciences commented:

“AVA6000 offers an exciting opportunity to improve upon the current doxorubicin treatment paradigm for patients, either as a monotherapy or in combination. We look forward to the results from our AVA6000 first-in-human clinical trial as we strive to improve the therapeutic index of doxorubicin for patients.”

AVA6000 Principal Investigator Professor Udai Banerji, Deputy Director of the Drug Development Unit at The Institute of Cancer Research, London and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust commented:

“I am delighted that the first patient has now received AVA6000 in the first-in-human study. This drug harnesses our understanding of the tumour microenvironment to enhance drug delivery – targeting potent anticancer therapies to tumours and potentially sparing patients debilitating side effects. It is fantastic that efforts are being made to discover and develop smarter, kinder treatments.”