Multi-million pound fundraising at life sciences firm

Wetherby-based listed life sciences business, Avacta Group says it has today conditionally raised gross proceeds of £3.75m.

This follows the launch of a new share subscription scheme on Thursday which issued 20,833,333 new ordinary shares at a price of 18 pence per share and saw “substantial institutional interest”.

Admission of both the Placing Shares and Subscription Shares is subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting.

The company has now confirmed the proposed Placing. It intends to raise a total of £5.75m before expenses to fund a number of projects including:

•    A phase 1 clinical trial of AVA6000 pro-doxorubicin;

•    Continuing to advance Affimer® immunotherapy pipeline with partners;

•    Delivering further commercial progress for therapeutics and diagnostics; and

•    Developing a small pipeline of Affimer® based diagnostic tests for licensing.

Avacta develops Affimer biotherapeutics and reagents. Affimers are binding proteins, which can be applied to treat illnesses when and where antibodies and aptamers are unable to.

Following the collaboration and option agreement with ADC Therapeutics at the end of 2019, Avacta has expanded the LG Chem Life Sciences Partnership and established a joint venture in South Korea with Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co.

Avacta’s revenues for the 17 month period to 31 December 2019, which include the initial milestone payment from LG Chem, have grown 100% to £5.5m from £2.76m (12 months ended 31 July 2018), ahead of market expectations.

In an update on the Coronavirus impact, Avacta states: “The company has instigated a working from home policy where possible and has curtailed all travel.

“Laboratory staff are continuing to carry out their duties working in smaller teams to allow social distancing to be observed.

“The Group’s revenues are not expected to be materially affected this year as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic and will continue to benefit from the expanded LG Chem partnership, the new collaboration established with ADC Therapeutics and the recently announced joint venture with Daewoong Pharmaceuticals.

“At this stage, the company does not expect to experience significant delays of more than a few weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it is reliant on clinical trials in the UK resuming by the end of the year.”