Avacta losses narrow as it progresses clinical programmes

Clinical-stage oncology drug developer Avacta reported first-half revenue of £5.5m on Thursday, up from £1.5m year-on-year and from £2.9m for the full 2021 period.

The AIM-traded firm said its operating loss from continuing operations reduced to £9m for the six months ended 30 June, from £10.2m a year earlier, while reported losses narrowed to £7.9m from £10.2m.

Cash and short-term deposits totalled £17m at period end, down from £37m a year earlier and £26.2m at the end of 2021.

Avacta sold its animal health division to Vimian Group in March for an upfront payment of £0.9m, and additional deferred contingent consideration of up to £1.4m, dependent on the combined performance of the consolidated business.

“The strong momentum in the group seen during the first half of 2022 has continued post-period end,” said chief executive officer Dr Alastair Smith.

“Most notably, the phase 1 clinical trial evaluating the safety and tolerability of AVA6000 is making excellent progress and is now recruiting patients into the fourth dose escalation cohort, at a dose of 200 milligrams per square metre, equivalent to more than double the normal dose of doxorubicin.

“I believe success in the ongoing phase 1a study will be a major value inflection point for the group as, not only is it important for the continued development of AVA6000, but it will also provide validation of the ‘preCISION’ mechanism of action, and therefore the platform as a whole.”

Dr Smith said if it was then applied more broadly, the validated platform would create a “promising pipeline” of chemotherapies, with the potential to “significantly improve” patients' lives.

“It is also exciting to see AVA3996, the next preCISION drug candidate, selected for pre-clinical development. We look forward to providing future updates on this.

“We continue to progress our diagnostic division, as an ISO13485 certified business, with all the necessary product development functions established in-house, removing the need to rely on multiple external partners.

“It is now focused on developing a pipeline of IVD products that will underpin a future profitable IVD business.”

At 1127 BST, shares in Avacta Group were down 0.51% at 109.44p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.