3rd Feb 2020 15:22
(Alliance News) - Avacta Group PLC on Monday said it has signed a collaboration and licence agreement with its new joint venture AffyXell Therapeutics, focused on developing Affimer proteins in order to create new gene and cell therapies.
Avacta has its headquarters in Cambridge. Its shares were up 6.4% at 24.20 pence in London on Monday afternoon.
AffyXell is a new South Korean joint venture between Avacta and Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, and was announced in January.
Avacta developed the Affimer platform, intended as an alternative to antibodies. Because of their ability to identify and bind to substances, antibodies can be used to diagnose infection and treat cancers. However, antibodies can be difficult to make and aren't always as specific as they need to be. Affimer is intended to improve on antibodies by being quicker to produce and more specific.
"Avacta and AffyXell will now work together to develop Affimer proteins against a range of targets which, when produced by mesenchymal stem cells, are intended to inhibit inflammatory and autoimmune pathways and improve the overall efficacy of MSCs, creating a next generation of stem cell therapies," said Avacta.
AffyXell will focus initially on autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, though there is a chance AffyXell may use Affimer-enabled cell and gene therapies in oncology further down the line.
AffyXell is to cover Avacta's research and development costs in creating Affimer proteins, while Avacta will keep "the rights to commercialise the Affimer proteins outside of the field of cell therapies".
Avacta Chief Executive Alastair Smith said: "From a commercial perspective, the global stem cell market is expected to be worth USD16 billion by 2025. AffyXell has a unique opportunity to combine two world-class technologies, Avacta's Affimer antibody mimetic platform and Daewoong's proprietary technology for generating 'off-the-shelf' allogeneic MSC therapies to create the next generation of stem cell therapies. We believe that this has the potential to create substantial value for stakeholders in the near future."
By Anna Farley; [email protected]
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