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IG is still not taking any trades on Avacta. Does anyone know how often IG block share trades or how many shares are blocked at any one time? Seems to me that they must be worried that they will take a major hit when the news comes in.
February 2019 RNS: “Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), the developer of Affimer® biotherapeutics and reagents, is pleased to announce that ModernaTX, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) has exercised its option to enter into an exclusive licensing agreement with respect to certain Affimers against a potential therapeutic target that has been part of an ongoing research collaboration between the two companies.”
Does anyone know what happened to this or was it put on the back burner due to COVID?
BioPharma Dive is a US website which states its purpose as the following:
"BioPharma Dive provides in-depth journalism and insight into the most impactful news and trends shaping biotech and pharma. The newsletter and website cover topics ranging from clinical readouts to FDA approvals, gene therapy to drug pricing and M&A to research partnerships."
When I searched for Avacta, there was one reference from 2016 so clearly they don't seem to be interested in any Biotech companies that are outside the US. I am tempted to send them some Avacta information to enlighten them.
When the AVA6000 Phase 1a results are available, an RNS will be released with the hopefully good news. Avacta have stated that they will be holding a Science Day - most likely in November - when full updates on the various projects will take place. It does not make sense to hold the Science Day until the P1A results are available. So the RNS must come at the latest on the morning of the Science Day but could be issued earlier. So the date of the Science Day is a really important piece of information.
If the P1A results are as good as we hope they will be, how widely are Avacta going to publicise it? The obvious way would be to invite all the media medical correspondents to the Science Day. They could put out a general press release and even hold a press conference. We are talking about a potential MAJOR game changer to cancer treatment. I wonder who else will be invited to the Science Day? Probably not Private Investors!
What do others think?
Bella - you may right about the interim results. They usually come through mid to late September. However there are so many possible areas of activity where update RNSs could be issued not least the fact that we have not heard anything about progress on the Diagnostic side since they pulled the AffyDX LFT in January. I know everyone is waiting for the big one re the phase 1a trial but no reason not to update in other areas and obviously news that they are obliged to issue.
4 trading days now. There have only been 2 months since the Jan 2020 (31 months) where there has not been a newsworthy RNS. Significant RNSs issued in both August 2020 and 2021. Statistically we should get an RNS in the next week. Let’s hope!
Tom - thanks for reminding me of Neil Bell's comment. What sort of update can he provide without providing the results of the phase 1a study? I suppose it could be a further dose escalation or the US sites coming on line although it seems a bit late for that.
MrA - thank you for your break down of the timescales for the DE2 which provides us with a better idea on when we may get the resuts from the phase 1a study. AS did say that we would hear before the end of Q3 so that gives him a couple of weeks wiggle room. However, we know that the timescale will be determined by the progress of the DE2 cohort and there are many factors that can produce delays, some of which you have listed, so I will not get my hopes up until we get into Q4!
I know we are all waiting for the AVA6000 update due end Q3, early Q4. However, there are many other areas of Avacta activity including the collaborations and licensing deals, diagnostics, TMAC and the pipeline of future pro-drugs and Affimer bispecifics which may produce an RNS before then. My analysis of previous RNS activity suggests that there are one to two newsworthy RNSs issued every month. As there has been no RNS activity so far in August, I expect at least one to be issued in the next two weeks.
Just for information I had a look at newsworthy RNSs issued from 2020 to now. By newsworthy I mean that I excluded administrative RNSs such as Issue of Equity, Director changes etc.
In that period, there were only two months without a newsworthy RNS. During 2022, there have generally been two each month. In previous years this was a bit higher due to the LFT excitement.
No particular day of the week was favoured for issuing RNSs except Friday which was notably lower.
Not dramatic findings but with a bit of luck we should get a couple of RNSs before the end of August!
Welcome news regarding the move to cohort 3 and the dose escalation. The previous two cohorts have taken 6 months each to complete. I know there are now more hospitals involved but 3 months to complete a further 1 or 2 cohorts and provide the read out seems a bit tight. Any views?
I feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Every day I wake up and check for the RNS from Avacta. And every day there is no RNS and Phil the Groundhog says that it will be tomorrow and the share price does nothing.... Next day, the alarm goes off, I check for the RNS - no RNS and Phil says it will be tomorrow.
Please can AS release me from this torment?!