Shares in Avacta Group Plc rose on Monday after the clinical stage biopharmaceutical company presented preclinical data showing its novel dual payload pre|CISION technology at a oncology conference in Boston.
The pre|CISION platform is the first in the field to enable two distinct anti-cancer therapies to be delivered simultaneously to the tumour microenvironment through a single fibroblast activation protein (FAP)-mediated cleavage event, the company said.
This, it says, has the potential to overcome resistance and maximise tumour control.
Key preclinical findings have validated the dual payload release mechanism, while showing that dual payload compounds could treat specific FAP-selective tumour cells with maintained potency.
"Avacta is the first company to develop dual payload peptide drug conjugates, circumventing resistance mechanisms that cancer cells develop against single-drug therapies while maximising therapeutic effect through targeted combination delivery," Avacta said in a statement.
"This approach has the potential to address several critical challenges in cancer therapy."
The stock was up 1.9% at 65p by 0917 GMT, having risen as much as 5% earlier on.