Avacta Shares Climb on Appointment of New Chief Medical Officer

Avacta Group (LON: AVCT) shares rose on Tuesday after the UK-based life sciences firm appointed Dr. David Liebowitz as Chief Medical Officer and added Yulii Bogatyrenko as an advisor in business development.

The company’s shares have gained more than 4% in early trading, currently priced around 32.45p a share.

Avacta, which is developing targeted oncology drugs, said Dr. Liebowitz would lead the company’s clinical strategy as it advances its pre|CISION platform. He brings over 30 years of experience spanning academia and industry and has contributed to more than 25 successful IND filings.

Liebowitz most recently served as Senior Vice President of early-stage clinical development at Inovio Pharmaceuticals. He previously held senior roles at Xencor, Vaxart and Amgen, where his work focused on oncology, immunotherapy and translational science.

“We are thrilled to welcome David and Yulii at this pivotal time for Avacta,” said Avacta CEO Christina Coughlin. “David’s deep expertise in oncology, coupled with a successful track record of advancing innovative therapies into the clinic, will be instrumental as we continue to execute on our clinical development strategy.”

Bogatyrenko joins as a business development advisor, bringing experience from senior commercial and strategic roles at Pfizer, Bayer and Teva. He is currently a principal at Biopharma C&I.

The appointments come as Avacta pushes forward with its pipeline and seeks to build industry partnerships. Coughlin added, “We look forward to benefiting from their insights and strategic perspective as we remain focused on driving value for both patients and shareholders.”