Avacta Group (AVCT ) said it has achieved a pre-clinical development milestone as part of the Company’s multi-target therapeutics development partnership with LG Chem Life Sciences.
The biopharmaceutical company and LG Chem Life Sciences, the life sciences division of the South Korean LG Group, have a multi-target therapeutics development agreement in place to develop Affimer® therapeutics across several disease areas that is worth up to $400 million.
Avacta’s Affimer XT® platform, which comprises an Affimer® that binds to a large blood protein called Serum Albumin that is too large to be cleared rapidly from the circulation, is a system for extending the time a drug spends in the circulation (“serum half-life extension”).
The Company explained that a half-life extension can be achieved by linking Affimer XT® to a small drug such as an Affimer® PD-L1 inhibitor to make a bispecific drug molecule.
A small drug that might otherwise be cleared through the kidneys in a matter of hours, will remain in the circulation for many days if attached to Serum Albumin via Affimer XT®.
Since a long serum half-life increases the exposure of a tumour to the drug, this process could potentially improve the overall therapeutic effect, the Group highlighted to investors.
Under the partnership, LG Chem has the exclusive rights to develop and commercialise, on a global basis, Avacta’s Affimer® PD-L1 inhibitor with Affimer XT® serum half-life extension.
LG Chem also has the right to develop and commercialise other Affimer® and non-Affimer biotherapeutics combined with Affimer XT® half-life extension for a range of indications.
Avacta could earn up to $55m in milestone payments for each of these new products.In addition, Avacta will earn royalties on all future Affimer XT® product sales by LG Chem.
LG Chem has already successfully completed certain pre-clinical in-vivo models in the PD-L1/XT programme which has led to the selection of a pre-clinical candidate for further development towards the clinic therefore triggering an undisclosed milestone payment.
Commenting on the milestone, Dr. Alastair Smith, CEO of Avacta Group, told investors: “I am delighted with the progress in our important strategic partnership with LG Chem. LG Chem is a world-class drug development partner with excellent biologics manufacturing and clinical development capabilities and a pioneering vision to develop innovative drugs.”
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Last month, Avacta told investors that the first patient from its Phase I trial evaluating AVA6000, a therapeutic product based on the pre|CISION™ technology had been dosed.
The trial is a dose-escalation study in patients with locally advanced or metastatic selected solid tumours, known to be FAP-positive. The patients receive ascending doses of AVA6000 to determine the maximum tolerated dose and establish a recommended Phase II dose.
Avacta’s 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.
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.
During the second part of the study, patients will receive AVA6000 to evaluate the safety, tolerability and clinical activity at this recommended Phase II dose in selected tumour types.
The second part of the study, referred to as the ‘dose escalation phase’, is anticipated to complete by 2Q22 followed by completion of the dose expansion phase by 2Q23.
“If the study shows that the pre|CISIONTM 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|CISIONTM pro-drug chemotherapies,” Smith told investors.
In particular, Avacta said this would come with “significant clinical and commercial advantages” in a chemotherapy market that is expected to exceed $74 billion by 2027.
Also in August, Avacta began the shipment of its AffiDX® SARS-CoV-2 antigen lateral flow test, a ‘high performance’, 20-minute antigen test which uses patient-friendly nasal swabbing.
To date, the AffiDX® SARS-CoV-2 test has been shown by independent clinical evaluation to be 100% sensitive for patient samples with a PCR Ct value below 27 (indicative of a high viral load), 98.0% sensitive across a much wider range of viral loads and with 99% specificity.
Following the recent confirmation of registration from the MHRA, Avacta has been able to commercially roll-out its AffiDX® test across Europe by placing the test on the market.
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