Avacta Shares Fell 5.1% on Interim Results and AVA6000 Progress

The Avacta Group Plc (LON: AVCT) share price fell 5.10% after releasing its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2023. The company generated revenues worth £11.9 million, significantly improving from the £5.5 million in H1 2022. 

The life sciences company also revealed that its pre-tax loss before non-cash and non-recurring items was £7.9 million, compared to H1 2022 pre-tax losses of £5.4 million. The company’s operating loss from continuing operations was £11.9 million versus the £9.6 million recorded in H1 2022.

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Avacta also highlighted the clinical progress made with its lead pre|CISION™ programme, AVA6000, a tumour microenvironment-activated form of a chemotherapeutic agent, doxorubicin. The company noted that it had made significant progress during its Phase 1a clinical trial conducted in H1 2023. 

The company revealed that the different dose cohorts exhibited an excellent safety profile, as explained by the firm’s previous announcements. The company also noted that it had expanded dosing into the United States under its Investigational New Drug (IND) Application, part of its Phase 1 multi-centre trial. 

After the period ended, the sixth dose cohort (310 mg/m²) was completed, and the company escalated its testing to the seventh dose cohort (385 mg/m²), which was approved in September. The company noted a significant reduction in tumour volume within a patient with soft tissue sarcoma.

Given the highly positive Phase 1a clinical trial data, the company has adapted its clinical development plan to bring forward the beginning of the likely pivotal Phase 2 study once it receives the necessary regulatory approvals. 

Dr Eliot Forster, Chairman of Avacta Group plc, said: “Targeting of cancer therapies to tumour tissue has been a long sought-after goal for many oncology drug companies, clinicians and patients. There are many potent anti-cancer drugs, the effectiveness of which is limited by the systemic toxicities and lack of tolerability for patients. The clinical data emerging for our lead pre|CISION^TM drug, AVA6000, is ground-breaking. We are seeing a dramatic reduction in the usual toxicities associated with anthracycline chemotherapy, and we have clear indications that doxorubicin is being released in active form in the tumour microenvironment.”

Avacta share price. 

The Avacta share price fell 5.10% to trade at 116.25p, from Wednesday’s closing price of 122.50p.