Last checked at 28 Apr 2022 13:53
28 April 2022
Avacta Group plc
("Avacta" or "the Group" or "the Company")
Block Listing Application to AIM
Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), a clinical stage oncology company and developer of powerful diagnostics based on its innovative Affimer® and pre|CISION™ platforms, today announces that application has been made to AIM for a block listing of 2,000,000 ordinary shares of 10 pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares"). This will be used to facilitate the admission of shares to trading following the exercise of options granted under the following two share schemes:
- The EMI Scheme - 750,000 shares
- The LTIP Scheme - 1,250,000 shares
The Ordinary Shares will be issued from time to time pursuant to the Company's existing plans including outstanding options already issued but not yet exercised to the employees of the Company. New Ordinary Shares issued following option exercises and admitted to trading under the block admission will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares.
The Company will make six-monthly announcements of the utilisation of the block admission, in line with its obligations under AIM Rule 29.
At the time of this announcement, Avacta has 255,267,919 Ordinary Shares in issue. This figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
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For further information from Avacta Group plc, please contact:
Avacta Group plc Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer Tony Gardiner, Chief Financial Officer Michael Vinegrad, Group Communications Director |
Tel: +44 (0) 844 414 0452 www.avacta.com |
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nomad and Broker) Nicholas Moore / Nick Adams / Fred Walsh / Nicholas Harland |
Tel: +44 (0) 207 710 7600 www.stifel.com |
FTI Consulting (Financial Media and IR) Simon Conway / Alex Shaw |
Tel: +44(0) 203 727 1000 Avacta.LS@fticonsulting.com |
Zyme Communications (Trade and Regional Media) Lily Jeffery |
Tel: +44 (0)7787 502 947 lily.jeffery@zymecommunications.com
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About Avacta Group plc - https://www.avacta.com
Avacta Group is developing novel cancer immunotherapies and powerful diagnostics based on its two proprietary platforms - Affimer® biologics and pre|CISION™ tumour targeted chemotherapies.
The Affimer® platform is an alternative to antibodies and is derived from a small human protein. Affimer® technology has been designed to address many of the negative issues of antibodies, principally: the time taken to generate new antibodies, the reliance on an animal's immune response; poor specificity in many cases; in addition to, the complexity and high cost of manufacture. Despite these shortcomings, antibodies currently dominate markets, such as diagnostics and therapeutics, which are worth in excess of $100bn.
Avacta's pre|CISION™ targeted chemotherapy platform is designed to selectively release active chemotherapy in FAP rich tumour tissue to limit the systemic exposure that causes damage to healthy tissues, and thereby aims to improve the overall safety and therapeutic potential of these powerful anti-cancer treatments.
The Avacta Group comprises two divisions: The therapeutics development activities are based in London and Cambridge, UK and a separate diagnostics business unit is based in Wetherby, UK. The Group is generating near-term revenues from Affimer® reagents for diagnostics, bioprocessing and research.
Avacta's Diagnostics Division is developing an in-house pipeline of Affimer-based diagnostic assays, including the AffiDX® SARS-CoV-2 Lateral Flow Rapid Antigen Test, and works with partners world-wide to develop bespoke Affimer® reagents for third party products.
Avacta's Therapeutics Division is working to generate more tolerable and durable treatments for oncology patients who do not respond to existing therapies. By combining its two proprietary platforms the Group is building a wholly owned pipeline of clinically differentiated cancer therapies. In 2021 Avacta transitioned to become a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, when it commenced a phase I trial in patients with locally advanced or metastatic selected solid tumours. The study was a first-in-human, open label, dose-escalation and expansion study of the Group's lead pre|CISION™ prodrug, AVA6000 (a pro-doxorubicin).
Avacta has established drug development partnerships with pharma and biotech, including a multi-target deal with LG Chem worth up to $400m, a joint venture in South Korea with Daewoong Pharmaceutical focused on cell and gene therapies incorporating Affimer® immune-modulators and a recent license agreement with Point Biopharma for them to develop radiopharmaceuticals based on the pre|CISION™ platform.
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