(Alliance News) - Avacta Group PLC on Thursday said revenue was ahead of market expectations, with a particularly strong performance from its Affimer diagnostics business.
Shares in Wetherby-headquartered Avacta were up 1.4% at 18.32 pence in London on Thursday.
Revenue for 17 months ended December 31 totalled GBP5.5 million, up from GBP2.8 million in the 12 months ended July 2018 and ahead of market forecasts. The company has moved its year end date to December 31 from July 31, and will report results for the 17 months to the new December 31 end date in late March 2020.
Revenue from the firm's Affimer diagnostics unit was particularly improved, more than doubling from the year before. Avacta attributed this to an increased number of customer evaluations of the Affimer platform, though the five extra months cannot go unremarked.
Affimer is intended to be an alternative to antibodies, which are produced by living things in order to recognise foreign material in the body. Once foreign material it detected, an antibody will bind to it.
Because of their ability to identify and bind to substances, antibodies can be used to diagnose infection and treat cancers. However, antibodies can be difficult to make and aren't always as specific as they need to be. Affimer is intended to improve on antibodies by being quicker to produce and more specific.
Avacata said it is experiencing its strongest order intake and sales pipeline to date going into 2020 and expects its revenue will be boosted by the expansion of its partnership with LG Chem, collaboration with ADC Therapeutics reported in October 2019, and a new joint venture with Daewoong Pharmaceuticals announced earlier in January.
As at December 31, Avacta had cash of GBP8.7 million, up from GBP5.2 million on July 31, 2018, beating market expectations after a placing in November 2019.
Looking ahead, the company's focus will be on its partnered programmes and development of its drug AVA6000 into the clinic in the second half of 2020. AVA6000 is intended to selectively deliver chemotherapy drug doxorubicin to tumours.
Avacta Chief Executive Alastair Smith said: "Our diagnostics business has continued to gain traction and is poised for continued growth in 2020 which should ultimately lead to license revenues.
"We are also due to take our first drug AVA6000, a re-engineered form of the chemotherapy Doxorubicin into the clinic in the middle of 2020, making it a ground-breaking year for the group. AVA6000 has been modified with Avacta's preCISION technology to reduce the side effects without affecting the efficacy of this effective cancer treatment. The initial readout, which aims to show that the side effects of this chemotherapy have been reduced, are expected before the end of the year which represents a major value inflection point for Avacta and a significant commercial opportunity.
"I am therefore looking ahead with confidence and believe 2020 will be an exciting year of further progress."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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Avacta Group (AVCT)