Avacta Group Share News (AVCT)

(ShareCast News) - Life science firm Avacta expects to have its first licensing deal for Affirmer, its biotherapeutics product, this year as its order book swelled.In an update for the six months ended 31 January, the the company said that its order book for Affimer grew 70% year-on-year, which along with paid-for commercial evaluations could lead to to licensing deals in 2017.The company said it is undergoing multiple paid-for commercial technology valuations with four large pharmaceutical firms, over 10 biotech companies, eight tools companies and several diagnostics firms, while its Affirmer technology has already been granted a patent in Europe.It's half-year revenue, operating losses and cash balances are in line with market forecasts.Avacta's in-house therapeutic development programme saw positive results from the first in vivo studies that demonstrated efficacy, tolerability and suitable pharmacokinetics properties of Affimer molecules, which the companies believes "de-risks the platform considerably". The company is targeting 2019 for the programme to make to clinics.Chief executive, Dr Alastair Smith, said the company's collaborations with partners such as Moderna, Glythera and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, which will generate Affimer proof of concept data later in 2017, provides additional opportunities to develop therapeutic applications of the Affimer technology.He added: "With our expectation of strong news flow to underpin increasing shareholder value this year, we start 2017 with great enthusiasm."Shares in Avacta were down 1.37% to 72p at 1026 GMT.