16th Sep 2013 10:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - Life sciences supplier Avacta Group PLC said Monday it had appointed Matt Johnson as head of the group's Affimer technology and production teams.
Johnson joins Avacta from Abcam PLC, an antibodies research company, where he was head of research and development.
Avacta acquired the intellectual property rights to Affimer - an alternative to the antibodies widely used in life-sciences research, diagnostics and therapeutics - in February 2012. In July of this year the company raised GBP4.7 million in a share issue to allow it to expand and commercialise the first Affimer products.
In a statement, the company described the recruitment of Johnson as an "integral part of this expansion".
"At this critical point in Avacta's development and commercialisation of Affimers, he brings an in-depth understanding of the antibody market, emerging technologies and customer need as well as a strong technical and operational track record", the company said.
Since acquiring the intellectual property, Avacta has established facilities to deliver its two main commercial objectives: the generation of Affimer-based reagents as alternatives to antibodies in the general life sciences research market, and the production of very large Affimer microarrays as new tools for biomarker and drug discovery.
"I am delighted that Matt is joining Avacta to lead the Affimer development and operations team. It is a very strong validation of the potential of Affimers as an alternative to antibodies," Avacta Chief Executive Officer Alastair Smith said.
Shares in Avacta were trading up 6.9%, or 0.057 pence, Monday morning, at 0.872p.
By Philip Nye; [email protected]
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