LONDON and PHILADELPHIA – May 28, 2025 – Avacta Therapeutics (AIM: AVCT), a life sciences company developing next generation peptide drug conjugates (PDC) targeting powerful anti-tumor payloads directly to the tumor, today announces the appointments of David Bryant and Richard Hughes as Non-Executive Directors with immediate effect.
David Bryant is a highly experienced international pharmaceutical executive with over 35 years in the industry. He has a strong track record in commercial leadership roles at GSK and Pfizer and was one of the original management team at Clinigen Group, from its 2012 IPO on AIM to its sale for $1.6bn in 2022. David is currently an Advisor to Healthcare Royalty (HCRx), a US-based healthcare focused private investment business.
Richard Hughes has had a long and successful career in UK capital markets with over 30 years’ corporate finance experience, including IPOs, equity capital raising and M&A for both public and private companies. He was previously a founder shareholder and a director of boohoo.com and a majority shareholder of Crawford Healthcare, a UK-based advanced wound care and dermatology company, which was acquired by Acelity in June 2018. He is a shareholder and director of numerous private companies operating across a range of sectors. Richard founded Zeus Capital, an independent financial services group, in 2003 and is a director of Zeus Group.
Shaun Chilton, Non-Executive Chairman, commented:
“As Avacta completes its transformation into a dedicated pure play therapeutics company, focused on advancing our unique preCISION® platform for the benefit of patients, it needs seasoned and expert guidance. David and Richard have many years’ experience and proven track records in pharmaceutical development and commercialization and capital markets respectively. Their collective expertise will significantly enhance the Board’s capabilities as we focus on the strategic opportunities within our innovative pipeline to build long-term shareholder value.”
David Bryant commented:
“I am looking forward to working closely with the executive management team on Avacta’s exciting technology and leveraging my commercial expertise. With the recent advances from the pre|CISION platform just published and the second program entering the clinic soon, the timing is ideal for me to join the Board.”
Richard Hughes added:
“I am delighted to be appointed as a Director. The business has a proprietary delivery platform in pre|CISION® that I believe will have a significant impact on the standard of care across a range of therapeutics, whilst limiting the harmful side effects that so many patients experience. I look forward to utilizing my experience in both fundraising and the scaling of businesses to assist the executive management team in delivering value for all shareholders.”