Avacta Share Discussion Threads

[spekky] 17/2/2017 07:24

Thanks wan,there is something unsavoury happening here imho.I am extremely disappointed.

[wan] 14/2/2017 14:55

Spekky...One of the other things that has previously annoyed me (and I did raise it), was the poor communications. To name but two; they sold Oxford Medical Diagnostics and did not see fit to announce it, they also did not see fit to announce that Paul Ko Ferrigno (PKF) became Director of External Collaborations from what was arguably a senior position as Chief Scientific Officer.

Having checked Companies House, I can confirm that PKF resigned as a director of Avacta Life Sciences on 24th January 2017!

[spekky] 14/2/2017 14:26

Yes,bit of a concern,he's not tweeting/blogging much these days either......

[wan] 14/2/2017 07:57

I note that Paul Ko Ferrigno, who was the founding scientist and founder of Aptuscan and who went quietly from Chief Scientific Officer to Director of External Collaborations, has now disappeared from Avacta's management page.

[the drewster] 24/1/2017 08:50

wan - appreciate your thoughts.

It's clearly enough of a fear to keep the share price at these lowly levels.

As ever, time will tell.

[wan] 23/1/2017 16:13

Drewster...Previously Avacta's management assured, no insisted, that no further fund raising was necessary, only to announce yet another placing out of the blue and where existing shareholders were heavily diluted. So, yes I have heard that one before a 'number' of times where Avacta are concerned.

Also, if Avacta is expecting to close at least one licensing deal in 2017, where further development might be necessary, it would not exactly be good timing to wait until 2018 when cash would last less than a year. Furthermore, I note from the Trading Statement (I use that term loosely!) the following -

"The Company expects to provide the market with more information about the build-out of the immuno-oncology portfolio and the strategy for expanding the in-house pipeline in the next few months as well as report on key data from immunogenicity studies - the first such data indicating whether the Affimer technology and individual Affimers show immunogenicity in human models."

Recall that the use of the proceeds from the last placing was quite specific -

3. Use of proceeds

The net proceeds of the Placing are expected to be approximately GBP21.0 million, of which GBP8.5 million is expected to be invested in infrastructure, specifically on:

-- moving the therapeutics team to larger facilities from its current facilities at the Bioscience Catalyst, Stevenage; and

-- expanding the team to support internal programmes and research partnerships.

The Directors expect to invest GBP12.5 million in in-house development programmes, in the following principal areas:

-- pre-clinical development of a number of Affimer immune checkpoint inhibitors and getting the lead asset into the clinic;

-- pre-clinical development of a family of Affimers that modulate blood clotting for the treatment of cardiovascular and bleeding disorders;

-- further development of the enabling platform technologies - broadly applicable tools to enhance Affimer therapeutics and improve third parties' products:

o bi-specifics for combine therapies and targeting;
o Affimer-drug-conjugates (ADC);
o serum half-life extension; and
o formulation for topical and intra-cellular/liposomal delivery; and
-- continuing to strengthen the intellectual property around the enabling platform and file on individual Affimers and their therapeutic effects

(END)

Expanding the in-house pipeline did not feature in the use of proceeds. So, it will be interesting to see how they will fund that expansion, but given their track record (and I can quote many examples!) and as I indicated previously, I would not be surprised to see funds raised in 2017.

[the drewster] 23/1/2017 14:18

The conversations around cash at the AGM gave assurances that all was fine for 2017 AND 2018 if need be.

I'd be floored if there was a cash call in this calendar year.

[wan] 23/1/2017 07:06

The following has been on my radar for quite a while and is another alternative technology to antibodies, MIPs (Molecularly Imprinted Polymers) from a UK company, MIP Diagnostics Ltd and is very interesting, their CEO Dr Adrian Kinkaid is an ex Chief Commercial Officer from Avacta.

The robust nature of MIPs and nanoMIPs make them ideal reagents for a wide range of applications including point-of-care diagnostics and in field based testing. They can withstand harsh chemical environments, such as high concentrations of organic solvents. MIPs have successfully been created and deployed against targets including proteins, peptides and other macromolecular structures, as well as smaller chemical entities such as toxins, drugs, their metabolites and commonly used biochemical species such as enzyme cofactors. Using the proprietary nanoMIP development process, MIP Diagnostics can provide a proven nanoMIP within just two weeks of receiving the target.

No immune response is required and no animals are used in the manufacture of MIPs.


They offer a custom service and they can provide a proven nanoMIP within just two weeks (sometimes less) of receiving the target. Their technology appears particularly well suited to a number of key areas that Avacta are also targeting -





MIP Diagnostics are not a listed entity, but MIP Diagnostic has recently received follow-on investment from Mercia Fund Management (Mercia), a leading investment business in UK innovation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Mercia Technologies PLC (MERC). The investment follows the successful completion of key milestones, including the appointment of CEO Dr Adrian Kinkaid, and the development of an initial sales pipeline. One year into operations, MIP Diagnostics has managed to secure customers and is in initial discussions with several blue chip organisations. So this could be an interesting one to watch, especially if Mercia brings MIP on board as a full portfolio company.

For the record, I own a shares in Mercia Technologies (MERC).

[poacher45] 21/1/2017 09:06

Well you have just about said it all wan. I agree he has just about run out of money yet again. The bit I like is losses will be as forecast. How many years ago was it when he forecast a profit for the next year. Alastair should this time be made to concentrate his mind by having to put all his assets including his house up as collateral. I suffered a massive bad debt and several other problems which I wont bore you with but I made my business successful. It is time he stopped wasting other peoples money. This company is just a liability.

[wan] 21/1/2017 06:52

Spekky...I think that a history of never delivering is more deserving! We have heard so many times what the next market approach/development will be, for example, Sensipod - never happened, build out a large catalogue of reagents - never happened, microarrays and even revenues expected from microarrays - never happened, a raft of new Animal Health tests - never happened. Now we have confirmation that ubiquitination has gone the same way too!

I won't bore everyone with the raft of other quotations from Alastair regarding the rationale for Avacta's strategy of focusing on ubiquitin, but for those interested just search Avacta Ubiquitylation (or ubiquitination). And also look at the news flow from Ubiquigent - (where IP Group has a significant shareholding) and Ubiquigent also has collaboration with Ubiq-Bio....remember them?

Alastair Smith, Chief Executive of Avacta said: “This is probably the most important landmark in the Affimer story so far. Avacta is continuing to build a toolkit for the study of ubiquitylation and will make them available as part of an on-line catalogue which will be launched during the summer of 2014. Despite huge efforts over the past ten years antibody companies have been unsuccessful in building libraries of ubiquitin specific antibodies. Within a few weeks we have generated Affimer binders to a specific ubiquitin chain. As a result of the recent financing and this collaboration with UbiQ, we now have the technology and resource and access to ubiquitin chains to create large libraries of ubiquitin specific Affimer reagents. I expect to see a strong collaboration develop in this area with UbiQ and for us to grow a flagship catalogue to serve this important application in the study of ubiquitylation”.


As for the Trading Update as whole, it provided scant detail in terms of trading and was bloated out with recycled stuff. The management are starting the year with "great enthusiasm" shouldn't that be without question?

In my opinion, the market is being primed for another placing during 2017, and even if they have announced a licensing deal (which is likely to have no up-fronts), it will almost certainly have to be a heavily discounted offer.

[bonzo] 20/1/2017 08:43

For the stage of the company, and the state of the industry, these guys are making good progress. It will take a number of years for their discoveries to be translated into large revenues, they are doing all the right things.

[spekky] 20/1/2017 08:06

If they didn't have a history of over promising......I would be tempted....BUT...

[18bt] 20/1/2017 07:27

That's a substantial statement, preparing for an increase in newsflow this year. Positive

[the drewster] 20/1/2017 07:14

Nice read.

[lantanatony] 19/1/2017 18:12

Why would Avacta want to present at this event.
Should we expect another placing?

[sharesevents] 19/1/2017 17:20

Promotional post - The Growth and Innovation Forum will show you how to take advantage of new investment opportunities in technology stocks and funds. Come and see Alastair Smith, CEO - Avacta and 20 other companies present at the Growth and Innovation Forum on 31st January 2017 at Business Design Centre London. Find the next stock market ‘winner’. Satellite Solutions Worldwide +79%, CyanConnode +43%, Instem + 44%, Summit Therapeutics +32% and XLMedia +46% all attended last year. Click to register to attend for free

The other companies also presenting Jaywing, RedstoneConnect, Blancco Technology Group, CloudCall, Frontier IP Group, CyanConnode, Bango, LoopUp, CityFibre, TP Group, AJ Bell, ANGLE, Legal & General UK Alpha Trust, Defenx, Instem, WANdisco, Collagen Solutions, Avacta, One pm Finance, Cenkos Securities and Mirada.

[the drewster] 16/1/2017 08:42

AGM Friday, Innovation forum 31st ... let's hope so.

[lantanatony] 13/1/2017 15:34

Should we expect good news soon?

[lantanatony] 13/1/2017 15:34

Should we expect good news soon?

[the drewster] 13/1/2017 14:01

Moderna tie up, May 15.

Nothing concrete, but this is interesting:

mRNA-1706 – Zika virus vaccine (proprietary formulation): Moderna is advancing a second version of its Zika mRNA vaccine that contains the same active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) as the mRNA-1325 Zika mRNA vaccine, but utilizes one of the company’s next generation, novel formulations, V1GL. Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) toxicology studies are currently underway for mRNA-1706.

mRNA-4157 – Personalized Cancer Vaccines: Moderna, in partnership with Merck, is developing an mRNA-based personalized cancer vaccine to prime the immune system to recognize cancer cells and mount a strong, tailored response to each individual patient’s cancer. Moderna will identify neoantigens present in each patient’s specific tumor and will create a personalized vaccine encoding for approximately 20 unique neoantigens. When injected into the body, the mRNA directs cells to produce and express these neoantigens. In turn, this activates the immune system to better recognize and destroy the cancer cells. Moderna’s mRNA-based personalized cancer vaccine has the potential to be synergistic with checkpoint inhibitor therapies, including its partner Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab).

Leveraging its rapid cycle time, small-batch manufacturing technique and digital infrastructure, Moderna plans to manufacture and supply its personalized cancer vaccines tailored to individual patients within weeks.

[the drewster] 13/1/2017 13:11

UBIQ Bio tie up, announced May 2014, described by Alistair as the most important "yet" (at the time).

Products are available on the website, no news items that I can see though.

[the drewster] 13/1/2017 13:04

The ProtATonce partnership, announced February 2015 (almost two years ago) and the subject of a positive update in October the same year ... then absolutely nothing.

The "Avacta" tie-up remains the last "news" on their website, so wouldn't appear to have been superseded, but there's no obvious link to anything positive from the partnership either.

[wan] 06/1/2017 10:34

Double post!

[wan] 06/1/2017 10:34

Poacher...I still hold a lot less than I did, but I also took into account that during some of my more recent selling, there appeared to be willing buyers in the wings i.e. I could sell a lot more than the indicated market size (which is unusual for Avacta) and subsequent sells then had no effect on the bid price.

What I would add regarding today's news is that it adds further to the evidence (validation?) of the potential for alternative to antibodies. And also shows that interest in externally developed alternatives is live and very real. Clearly it does not exclude antibodies either (which adds a new dimension), but it does differentiate them! Furthermore, it would appear that between Roche and Servier, they have sown up Pieris, so the 'immediate' pool has effectively shrunk.

I think the main thrust is still that Avacta has to deliver and relatively soon!

[poacher45] 06/1/2017 10:10

Wan I felt sorry for you now I think you must be mad.