Avacta Announces First Patient Dosed in Fifth Cohort of AVA6000 Phase Ia Dose Escalation Study

LONDON & WETHERBY, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), a life sciences company developing innovative, targeted oncology drugs and powerful diagnostics, announces that the first patient has been dosed in the fifth cohort of the first-in-human phase I trial (ALS-6000-101) of AVA6000. This follows the approval of an amended clinical trial protocol by the Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to allow for higher levels of dosing.

Avacta’s Safety Data Monitoring Committee (SDMC), comprised of clinicians currently recruiting patients, has recommended that the phase Ia dose escalation clinical trial continues to a fifth dose cohort at 250mg/m², following the favourable safety profile of AVA6000 generated in the study to date. Escalation to this level of dosing falls outside of the original clinical trial protocol, and therefore the protocol required amendment and approval by the MHRA, which has now been completed. This continued dose escalation is aimed at identifying a maximum tolerated dose (MTD) necessary to inform the dosing levels for the phase 1b and future studies.

Dr Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group, commented: “We are very much encouraged by the positive safety and tolerability data emerging from the dose escalation phase 1a study of AVA6000. Following the recommendation from the SDMC, and approval by the MHRA, we are pleased to commence dosing in the fifth patient cohort of this trial. The recent confirmation of release of active chemotherapy in the tumour tissue and the safety data being generated in the ALS-6000-101 study are providing detailed insights into the pre|CISION™ platform which add significant value to the technology and confirm the tumour targeting potential of the pre|CISION™ platform.”

This announcement has been approved for release by Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Avacta Group plc.