Avacta Group Regulatory News (AVCT)

7 Jan 2008 10:50

Avacta Group plc

Strategic Alliance

Broader service offering augments market position

Avacta Group plc ("Avacta"), which provides novel detection and analysis technology for the pharmaceutical, defence & security and clinical diagnostics markets, announces an agreement with Agenda 1 Analytical Services Ltd ("Agenda 1").

Agenda 1 provides a wide range of analytical techniques and services from bespoke laboratories located close to Avacta in Bradford, UK. Agenda 1 provides a complementary service offering to Avacta by focusing on small molecule therapeutics, whereas Avacta's strength is in the provision of expert analysis to companies developing large molecule biopharmaceuticals. Consequently, the agreement provides an immediate synergy allowing Avacta to offer an enhanced analytical service to a much wider base of pharmaceutical companies along with access to expertise, resources and technology not available in-house.

The Directors of Avacta believe that this enhanced product offering will enable accelerated growth of the analytical services business because it affords Avacta the ability to offer a greater range of the services required by the pharmaceutical industry. There will be no consideration payable by Avacta for this sharing of services.

Professor Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Commented:

"Avacta Analytical Limited, Avacta's technical services subsidiary, has made very good progress in its provision of analytical services to the biopharmaceutical sector but we are aware that some potential clients require an even broader range of services than we have been able to offer to date. Today's agreement allows us to extend our services and cover a greater range of the pharmaceutical industry's requirements and my expectation is that this will lead to more rapid growth in the services business of the Group."

7 January 2008Enquiries:Avacta Group plc Tel: 0870 835 4367 Russell Hodgetts Nexus Financial Ltd Tel: 020 7451 7050 Nicholas Nelson/Kathy Boate nicholas.nelson@nexusgroup.co.uk WH Ireland Ltd (Nominated Adviser) Tel: 0161 832 2174 David Youngman/Robin Gwyn BankOra Ltd Tel: 020 7562 4700 Michael Brennan/Henry Turcan Notes to Editors:About Avacta

Avacta was spun-out from the University of Leeds in 2004 by its current management team as a biophysics company, with the aim of combining the disciplines of physics and biology to develop innovative technologies and expert technical services to address needs in the pharmaceutical, defence and clinical diagnostics markets. Avacta has a core bio-analytical technology development programme addressing the needs of the biopharmaceutical sector to fully characterise their new products at the earliest stage in their development to reduce the risk of late stage failure. High value solutions in defence and clinical diagnostics are also being provided by Avacta's development programmes.

A successful and growing part of the Avacta business model is its technical services arm, Avacta Analytical Ltd which is focused on providing leading edge contract research to the biopharmaceutical and healthcare/personal-care materials sectors. Avacta listed on AIM in August 2006 through the reverse takeover of Readybuy plc which changed its name to Avacta Group plc.

About Agenda 1

Agenda 1 grew from the analytical laboratories of Nektar Therapeutics (UK) Ltd - (a.k.a. Bradford Particle Design Ltd). The team was formed to utilise their experience as a development group supporting both new technologies and new pharmaceutical products working from early stage project initiation up to and including enabling the release of material for clinical trials.

Agenda 1's client base ranges from major pharmaceutical companies through to virtual companies, and emerging and growing Bio-Pharma businesses. Agenda 1 has developed a number of flexible approaches to help clients access their lab facilities. These include the option to place contract staff into the laboratories via a unique structure with Synergy Outsourcing, a company specialising in scientific personnel. Agenda 1 has also recently launched an innovative "Lab Time-Share" approach, which saw the company awarded the prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry "SME of the month" award for July 2007.