The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma has just been released. Listen here.
Avacta have the exclusive rights to Affimers in all applications - it's their intellectual property.
Agreed DTW - it's a phenomenally powerful technology platform, which is endlessly scalable and producing cutting-edge science in markets worth hundreds of billions annually.
Buy and hold for me, please.
Mr A - I didn't read it super closely as a lot of it is over my head (I'm an architect not a scientist) and i'm sure others can give a better interpretation of this than I (Monkshood?).
But without re-reading it, I think they got to K3/K6 through computational simulation of KRAS, hypothesizing the existence of a ridge in the protein from the chemical structure, then generating a range of Affimers which might bond through the normal selection process / phage display.
They then examined the efficacy of the Affimers through the impact on KRAS expression in engineered cell lines, selecting those with the highest effect; effectively 'probing' the molecule to see what worked.
The binding of these Affimers on KRAS was then studied through X-ray crystallography, SEM, etc, to reveal previously unknown binding sites on the protein which can be targeted for therapeutic use.
And your summary is correct (I think) - the Affimers inhabited KRAS and can themselves be used therapeutically.
"Thus, Affimer K6 demonstrates that the use of biologics with small interaction interfaces can not only bind and inhibit difficult-to-drug proteins but also identify and probe druggable pockets on such proteins, potentially acting as templates for small molecules. Importantly, the K3 Affimer shows inhibition of RAS but also demonstrates a preference for KRAS over the HRAS and NRAS variants. To our knowledge, the only other biologics to express such RAS variant specificity are DARPins K13 and K1916."
I don't have enough of science background to fully understand the paper, but having read it, it seems the Affimers work well - better than DARPins - and the method outlined has significant further application in drug discovery and cancer therapies.
The difficulty in targeting the proteins the affimers have succeeded in binding too is repeatedly highlighted and evidenced by the very few alternatives which have any efficacy - affimers were comparable or superior to these.
Exciting stuff!
"Here, we explore the possibility of using Affimer proteins, an established biologic with a small probe surface formed by two variable regions26 known to bind at protein interaction ‘hotspots’25,27,28, to probe RAS for druggable pockets and conformers that might be amenable to small-molecule inhibition.
Such a direct approach utilizing small probe surfaces has not previously been used with scaffold-based biologics and ***could revolutionize drug discovery,*** by exemplifying a pipeline for small molecule design that has the potential to unlock the currently ‘undruggable’ proteins."
Looks quite significant:
"This makes RAS a strong therapeutic target, but despite having been identified as a drug target for over 30 years, only recently have compounds been developed that show promise in pre-clinical trials"
Affimers going where others can't!
Missing from LSE RNS but if you go to London Stock Exchange website is all there
That last week, Al said Public Health England would be supplying the Delta samples.
He doesn’t say where this study took place, but I suspect there is more to this than meets the eye...
Come on Al!
Interesting to note BAMS being listed again, this time with the AffiDx branding attached...
"The Group is also developing an in-house pipeline of Affimer-based diagnostic assays including the AffiDX® SARS-CoV-2 Lateral Flow Rapid Antigen Test and AffiDX® BAMS™ SARSCoV-2 Assay in partnership with Adeptrix Inc."
Back on the table perhaps?
Yes it's standard stuff - if in doubt have a look at Eurasia Mining's AGM resolutions and the Q&A: directors retained the option to raise further funds, despite sitting on a cash pile of c.$14 million from the last raise.
It's just about giving the directors some flexibility in the future.
"I would assume that some changes to the pack/artwork and leaflets would be required"
I don't think so - Al was clear from the outset that the test would be for professional use first until the self-test permissions were gained. However, the test has been designed from the off for self-use; if you have a look at the IFU it reflects this - is very straightforward and easily understood.
As to why Abdx seem to be taking a while, IDK - but rumours abound they are busy producing something...
I checked (should of done before posting) and Neil Bell talks about a different candidate they’ve identified through the AVA 6000 development. I’m sure I’ve seen AVA04 mentioned before though, so I wonder what it’s targeting?
Great find Bella - stuff like this is why I still read this board! Thanks for your efforts.
If you look at the drawings, it says they’ve been testing “AVA04-FcRn binding AFFIMER®fusion”.
I haven’t double checked, but I’m sure they discussed AVA04 in the presentation on Monday as a new clinical candidate?
Great find Bella - stuff like this is why I still read this board! Thanks for the efforts.
If you have a look at the attached drawings, it’s looks like they have been working with AVA04 - I haven’t checked, but I’m sure they discussed this in the presentation this week and said they’d developed AVA04 as a new drug??
And it works!
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/DVRG/microtox-successful-phase-3-field-trials/15030475
The trolls wanted to get to the bottom of the gap at 154 - when we bounced at 160 they took the positions and gave up trying to manipulated it lower. Whenever there’s been a gap on the chart it’s been the same pattern for the last twelve months.
Agreed Infinis - why secure additional capacity if you do not have confidence it will be used?
I guess it boils down to whether you believe one of the worlds best-performing diagnostics will sell in a pandemic which is unlikely to abate for at least the next 12 months. Personally, I have every confidence there will be significant sales - I think these will emerge over the coming (several) weeks.
FWIW - I also think we will still see significant government orders: prioritising a British-made test has been restated as a key objective multiple times, in addition to a clear policy shift towards 'test to release' in lieu of quarantine. A significant LFT infrastructure has been developed and we have seen mounting evidence of this, I would be very surprised if this was then not deployed when warnings abound of a 'grim winter for the NHS'.
Finally, Al made clear we are still engaged with the Porton Down process, which - given the known difficulties we (and Mologic) have had with Futility Testing - suggests to me there remains strong interest on the part of HMG (why not go with an available alternative, like Surescreen, and reject us outright if this weren't the case?).
Ultimately, I am invested here for the technology platforms - which are incredibly powerful. I totted up the market value of antibodies in therapeutics, diagnostics and processes (in one document I read) to be in excess of $750 billion by 2025. For me, that's the prize - and the performance of our LFT has validated the underlying technology.
I expect the next twelve months to be huge.
GLA, DYOR
No, there is no leak, there was an hour long investor presentation in which it was revealed commercialisation will take longer than many anticipated and margins will be tighter. That's it.
Prior to that, Conifer revealed they had sold down at least some of their holding, jolting confidence.
Additionally, the Government extended Innova's EUA and Mologic began legal action against the Government over it's procurement process - further dampening expectations that the Government would bulk purchase our capacity in the immediate future.
Consequently, the market revalued the company for the present stage of commercial roll out. It will revalue it again when orders become known.
I know some people really want there 154 entry, but lets try and avoid imagining doomsday conspiracy's when reality stares us directly in the face...
Thanks Wiggly - I'd missed this before but it strikes me as quite significant.
Conjecture, but I wonder if 'services' includes a lay user study, or an 'alternative validation pathway'?
@wiggly - where did you see Medusa are now a government supplier, could you link to it? Thanks