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Nothing in the AACC blurb contradicts AS writing on Jan 10:
"We believe COVID-19 testing remains a long-term commercial opportunity. We will therefore use the robustness of the Affimer® platform, and what we have learned about the SARS-CoV-2 virus, to generate the next generation antigen test that will be as resilient as possible to any future mutations."
Great news:
" Affimer libraries utilising a human stefin A as a scaffold have been created by Avacta PLC and can be screened on a commercial basis (https://avacta.com/)."
As is a Diagnostics day pencilled in for next January.....I recall. A next-generation LFD would probably take nearly a year to design, engineer and retool so fingers crossed Avacta will release an all Affimer LFT before the end of the year.
Total Addressable Market. With thanks to David Brewer on the Telegram Avacta group:
"From where the company are today the TAM is to all intents and purposes infinite. It is just a very very large number that is totally out of sight. Even without the blue sky 'transform the whole of chemo' scenario pre|CISION as a whole could become one of the biggest grossing treatments in oncology within the decade. There are other innovations that could achieve this, but none of them are based on a technology as simple and reproducable as this. Clever chemistry, not breakthrough biology. Big difference."
Covid is only a fraction of the story with 100% Affimer based LFT's probably what AS had in mind when he promised a next-generation product to replace the "paused" item.
The EU is promising to ban animal derived antibody products - see below - so there is a potentially vast market for a highly accurate AffiDX platform that can be programmed for any number of diseases.
I think it's early days for AffiDX and the thirty or forty individuals working in Wetherby probably agree.
"The recommendations by the EU Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM), say that animal-derived antibodies are no longer fit for purpose and should be replaced with non-animal-derived alternatives."
November 2020
With thanks to David Brewer on Telegram:
As soon as it is clear that Avacta are in play I'd say hold on to any shares with glue covered hands, any contested bidding will find the best possible price for this. At £8 or £10 without a bid I'd be tempted to topslice. Predicting the longer term value now is not really possible, but I can easily see the kinds of numbers being bandied about being achievable if everything lines up. I'm now retired, but I worked for many years at the business end of life science startups and private equity, seeing several IPOs and trade sales through, up into the billions of dollars. None of the companies I worked with had anything like the potential asset value of Avacta. It is the combination of the depth of IP, the simplicity of the FAP activation technology, the possible speed to market, and the disruptive effect it could have on a huge existing area of technology that makes it special. I repeatedly pinch myself that this is publicly available and priced so low, what am I missing ? I've looked at it every which way, and have yet to see a gap.
AS claimed his platform will also be affordable. A member of my family is on immunotherapy and her doctor pointed out the treatment is costing as much as a small house. It's so expensive the medication is not prepared until the hospital is certain she is on the premises. Affordable dox with minimal side-effects might be a game-changer. My limited knowledge of cancer tells me she may have been able to receive AVA6000.
Bella...I guess you mean AffiDX? It might be much longer before relaunch. If AS wants to lower build costs that might involve new moulds for the production machinery ...... months to supply. And that new design and manufacture probably needs a new CE. It could be six to nine months.
As a listed company Avacta is obliged to retain professional advisers - whether or not AS wants them. And PR people will have a way of extracting more money .... the more they are used. I think he's doing the right thing by keeping quiet until he's got regulatory evidence