18th Jan 2022 13:52
(Alliance News) - Avacta Group PLC on Tuesday said its preCISION platform-based drug candidate, AVA3996, has been selected for preclinical development.
The Cambridge, England-based drug developer and diagnostics company said the potential tumour treating AVA3996 drug has been selected as a candidate for pre-clinical development with the aim of clinical trial authorisation and/or investigational new drug filing in the first half of 2023 and dosing of the first patient later in the year.
Avacta's preCISION platform is used to modify chemotherapy drugs, rendering them inactive in circulation until they enter a tumour micro-environment where they are then activated by an enzyme called fibroblast activation protein.
This enzyme is in high abundance in most solid tumours but not in healthy tissues. The preCISION platform, Avacta explained, offers a way to reduce systemic exposure to and improve the safety of cancer drugs.
AVA3996 is a fibroblast activation protein-targeted proteasome inhibitor. Proteasome inhibitors have limited regulatory approvals due to their serious toxicities, Avacta explained, but AVA3996 has been designed to reduce these systemic toxicities by targeting the release of the proteasome inhibitor to fibroblast activation protein-rich tumour tissues.
Chief Executive Alastair Smith said: "If AVA3996 is shown to have a significantly improved safety profile in the clinic, then not only could it provide a better tolerated treatment for multiple myeloma, but it has the potential to be the first proteasome inhibitor to be suitable for treating solid tumours, thereby significantly increasing the market opportunity."
Shares in Avacta were up 6.2% at 77.50 pence on Tuesday in London.
By Heather Rydings; [email protected]
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