Member Info for 54retiresoon

The inaudible query was around licensing as a means of raising necessary funds as far as I remember.

Hi Neutronic being picky but Alastair was asked was the CoS very high, greater than 50% to which his answer was Yes

No could not be there unfortunately. Not long after the RNS so not surprising he might be double booked.

The AGM finished 11 minutes before the start of the live link so Alistair introduced an extensive team from Avacta who were

there and then Elliott invited a few questions.

In answer to the first about where do you see Avacta getting to- Alistair said Avacta had "almost boundless potential" and could be the "next Genentech" (bought by Roche for $47 billion). Eliot said "not many companies on the planet with the technology" that Avacta have.

Later when Alistair was talking about share price Eliot chipped in that "Avacta were not boosters" i.e. they don't over egg things (very interesting when you marry that with the opening response). With his track record he is aware of companies where this is not the case.

"Already an improvement in quality of patient lives", response from an investigator "cannot tell when patients are dosed".

An eight question yes or no question illicited yeses to - exactly dox being released in tumour, will it act as dox, chance of success very high or >50%.

Response from doxorubicin is known in 3-4 cycles.

Over lunch talking to Avacta's Head of Biology by the AVA3996 poster about them using a modified form of Velcade so they can add the substrate to it. He said that modifying a chemo to add the substrate is not difficult, you do need to make sure that you don't destabilise the chemo in doing this. My take from this is that there would be very few restrictions on improving any existing chemo drug by adding precision regardless of its chemistry. If it is a modified form of an existing drug then trials would take longer. He was reluctant to talk about AVA6000 trial as Andrew was speaking after lunch.

Also heard that great responses at recent conferences which include meetings of up to three hours about posters.

Talk on AVA6000 trial by Andrew Saunders - up to 7 STS patients now (only 1 in first 4 cohorts). Consistency in adverse events - no increase as dose goes up. Could be combined with other drugs. Typically dox is planned for 6 cycles but most stop after 2! Mylo suppression in only 3/29 patients on trial.

Alistair on Diagnostics - had to pull a poster planned for lunch due to a patent going through something to do with a hormone under development (18 month development). No more M&A get everything bedded in and realise the synergies. Big potential to respond to market demand by developing appropriate Affimer products.

Funded to mid-2024 aware for need to find non-dilutive sources of further funding.

Overall feeling - they are very confident, know what they have and chance of success very high.

Excellent lunch - mexican beef stew with rice (or veg option) with pasta, cucumber salad. Pudding was a delicious thick lemon tart with cream and custard - delicious.

Off for sleep now as left house at 6 and got back after 8 will add other thoughts tomorrow morning.

Hi Bella

I think that is quite old wording from before Alastair Smith said that they were planning to retain AVA6000 and before they had a wealth of P1a data showing just how good it is. I would be very disappointed if they were licensing out AVA6000 for a 10% royalty.

What of the FUDs got left after efficacy concerns shot down with RNS yesterday.

Only 3% of trials are successful and years to market.

The standard of care for STS is doxorubicin. STS expert Dr William Tap said "if I have a doxorubicin that works better than standard doxorubicin overnight that becomes standard of care"

Is AVA6000 better than doxorubicin? Read the RNS

AVA6000 is a form of doxorubicin that has been chemically modified with Avacta's pre|CISIONTM platform designed to reduce systemic side effects by targeting the release of active chemotherapy in tumour tissue. Despite the high dose level in the fifth cohort which is approximately 2.25 times a typical dose of doxorubicin, AVA6000 has continued to be well tolerated by patients with a marked reduction in the incidence and severity of the typical toxicities associated with the standard doxorubicin chemotherapy administration.

The emerging positive safety and pharmacokinetic data from the study support the potential clinical differentiation of AVA6000 over doxorubicin. This includes: (i) higher dosing of AVA6000 compared to standard doxorubicin, (ii) more frequent dosing of AVA6000 compared to doxorubicin - doxorubicin is typically dosed every three weeks in order for patients to recover from the side effects of treatment, (iii) the ability to administer many more cycles of AVA6000 compared to doxorubicin.

Phase 1b will do a straight test of AVA6000 vs Doxorubicin within months Dr Tap will know he has a doxorubicin that works better than standard doxorubicin. FDA approval will follow.

Yesterday's RNS contained some expected news - 5th cohort completed successfully and move to 6th dose at 310 mg/m2

The unexpected but very positive news that 10 patients were dosed in cohort 5 rather than the expected 3.

The special news that could now looking at dosing much more frequently than every three weeks. This could speed up next cohort and/or future phases.

The MEGA news that across cohort 5 and more than one other cohort there are patients continuing to be dosed with AVA6000 because their cancer is not progressing. Remember the patients selected are very sick, had much prior treatment that has not been effective and most of them have cancers that are not usually treated with doxorubicin.

News worth far more than a £30m increase in the market cap.

Next week Avacta RNS that they have cured cancer and the share price responds by going down 5p. Not impossible given that terminally ill patients with cancers that don't respond to dox have seen no cancer progression with AVA6000 and the market responds NAH.

Worth remembering that price of AVA6000 can be appreciably higher compared to standard dox. For two reasons firstly Dox is off patent so price of standard dox could easily have halved from when it was under patent.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6132437/

Given the reduction in side effects AVA6000 could warrant a significant additional premium compared to Dox.

You are also giving more drug in each dose as well as more doses which could warrant a higher price.

A 4-6x existing market is probably conservative. It's also worth remembering that Dox is very cheap compared to most modern chemo drugs and so a bigger AVA6000 price would still be a bargain.

I have just had a reply to say I'm booked in from FTI - will be an early start from South of Bristol to get there.

Has anyone emailed about attending and had a reply?

Outstanding set of half year results -EPS for 1st half 2.5p. 70% increase in revenue and order book. £64m cash.

Interesting that very few restrictions on participants in the trial

https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/clinical-trials/22-428

Thanks Bella recognise this as one of the many insidious side effects from my Dad's chemo treatments. Endured 8 out of 10 doses of a very expensive modern drug with much toil on his body and feeling lousy for all bar the first few days after treatment and the week before the next treatment. Got a call on Friday from him that the latest drug he has been tried on has been stopped after two rounds as consultant feels another dose could give him heart attack.

The impact that Avacta is making to chemo treatment will be world news and transform the quality of millions of lives. The ability to remove/reduce debilitating side effects will transform and expand chemo treatment.

worldwide keytruda sales for 2022 were nearly $21bn but patents start to expire in 2028.

patent ending within 5 years and numerous keytruda side effects -surely merck would like to protect their income stream and reduce the side effects.

keytruda side effects

get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction to keytruda (hives, difficult breathing, swelling in your face or throat) or a severe skin reaction (fever, sore throat, burning eyes, skin pain, red or purple skin rash with blistering and peeling).

seek medical treatment if you have a serious drug reaction that can affect many parts of your body. symptoms may include skin rash, fever, swollen glands, muscle aches, severe weakness, unusual bruising, or yellowing of your skin or eyes.

some side effects may occur during the injection. tell your medical caregiver if you feel dizzy, nauseated, light-headed, itchy, sweaty, or have a headache, chest tightness, back pain, trouble breathing, or swelling in your face.

keytruda causes your immune system to attack tumor cells, but it could also attack healthy organs and tissues in your body. this could lead to serious or life-threatening side effects on your lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys, intestines, thyroid, or adrenal glands.

keytruda may cause serious side effects. call your doctor at once if you have:

new or worsening cough, chest pain, shortness of breath;

pale skin, easy bruising or bleeding;

severe muscle pain, cramps, weakness, neck stiffness;

double or blurry vision;

confusion, sleep or memory problems, changes in mood or behavior, balance problems;

numbness, tingling, burning pain, redness, rash, or blisters on your hands or feet;

fever or flu-like symptoms, swollen glands, sores in your mouth, throat, nose, or on your genital area;

diarrhea, severe stomach pain or tenderness, bloody or tarry stools;

feeling sick or uneasy, with pain or swelling near your transplanted organ;

high blood sugar = increased thirst, increased urination, dry mouth, fruity breath odor;

kidney problems = swelling, blood in your urine, urinating less, loss of appetite, feeling tired or short of breath;

liver problems = swelling around your midsection, right-sided upper stomach pain, loss of appetite, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);

hormonal problems = unusual headaches, sensitivity to light, eye problems, rapid heartbeats, increased sweating, extreme tiredness, weight gain or weight loss, increased hunger or thirst, increased urination, hair loss, feeling cold, constipation, ho**** or deepened voice, dizziness, fainting, decreased sex drive; or

low red blood cells (anemia) = pale skin, tiredness, feeling light-headed or short of breath, cold hands and feet.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1269401/revenues-of-keytruda/#:~:text=keytruda%20is%20not%20only%20merck%20%26%20co.%e2%80%99s%20top,21%20billion%20u.s.%20dollars%20in%20revenue%20dur

I believe Avacta will license out Precision to a big Pharma to apply to one of their existing drugs to allow them to reset the patent clock and reduce eliminate side effects. The closer the big Pharma drug is to expiry the greater the need. Or maybe your oncology drug is a distant 2nd or 3rd to a market leader due to side effects get a licence to work with avacta to produce a new market leader. List is almost endless. The brave go early cheaper licensing deal. The cautious wait for P1a data or FDA to pronounce AVA6000 has been sped up due to exceptional P1b progress on STS

MB53 long thought they would keep 3996. Very strange that not going after the Velcade et al market ($2.3bn pa) could there be a deal to licence 3996 for multiple melanoma only to Takeda to replace Velcade while Avacta focus on 3996 as tumour agnostic?

Lots of detail in RNS for newbies. Only improvement I would have liked is a quote from Dr Tap along the lines of anything that can improve on doxorubicin is automatically the new Standard of care for STS.

The real value is in restarting the patent clock on new healthier versions of currently patented drugs.

AZN's Enhertu can cause serious side effects, including:

Lung problems. These may be severe, life-threatening or may lead to death. If you develop lung problems while on the medicine you maybe prescribed a corticosteroid medicine. It is important to tell your healthcare provider right away if you get any of the following signs and symptoms of lung problems:
shortness of breath or trouble breathing
cough
fever
any change in breathing or any new or worsening breathing symptoms such as wheezing or chest tightness.
Low white blood cell count (neutropenia). It is common for this medicine to cause low white blood cell counts, and this can sometimes be severe. You should have your white blood cell levels checked before starting this medicine and again before starting each dose. If you develop any signs or symptoms of an infection or have fever or chills during treatment with this medicine, it is important to tell your healthcare provider right away.
Heart problems. This medicine may affect the heart's ability to pump blood. You should have your heart function checked before starting treatment. If you get any of the following signs and symptoms, it is important to tell your healthcare provider right away:
irregular heartbeat
sudden weight gain
swelling of your ankles or legs
new or worsening shortness of breath
coughing
feeling tired
dizziness or feeling light-headed
loss of consciousness.