Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), a leading life sciences company dedicated to developing innovative oncology drugs and powerful diagnostics, has announced a crucial milestone in its drug development journey. The company has successfully dosed the third patient in the first cohort of the two-weekly Phase 1a dose escalation study of AVA6000. This peptide drug conjugate, designed with Avacta’s proprietary pre|CISION technology, aims to target the delivery of the chemotherapy agent doxorubicin specifically to tumor tissues, thereby potentially reducing systemic side effects and improving patient tolerability.

AVA6000 leverages the presence of fibroblast activation protein (“FAP”) in solid tumors, which is generally found at higher levels than in healthy tissues. The pre|CISION technology is engineered to activate the chemotherapy agent only upon encountering FAP, thus minimizing damage to healthy cells and optimizing dosing schedules for enhanced efficacy.

The ongoing Phase 1a dose escalation study continues to assess the safety and tolerability of AVA6000, with data from the three-weekly dosing arm already indicating targeted chemotherapy release and significant improvement in the safety and tolerability profile of doxorubicin. Encouragingly, preliminary clinical signs of anti-tumor activity have been observed.

The final cohort in the three-weekly study, Cohort 7, administered AVA6000 at a dose level of 385 mg/m2, approximately 3.5 times the standard dose of doxorubicin, without observing dose-limiting toxicities. This positive outcome led the Safety Data Monitoring Committee (SMDC) to deem this dose level safe, paving the way for a two-weekly dosing safety study in the US, with regulatory and ethics approval also obtained to open sites in the UK for the two-weekly arm.

Avacta’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Alastair Smith, expressed optimism about the trial’s progress, stating, “These emerging data clearly demonstrate that the pre|CISION peptide drug conjugate platform is functioning as designed, targeting the release of a cancer therapy to the tumor and potentially delivering significantly better outcomes for patients.”

Lee Cranmer MD, PhD, FACP, a leading figure in sarcoma research at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, also shared his encouragement regarding the initial trial data and the novel approach to targeted cancer therapy offered by AVA6000.

As Avacta Group looks forward to presenting a detailed update at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in April, the oncology research community and stakeholders eagerly anticipate further developments. This trial represents a significant step forward in the quest for more effective and tolerable cancer treatments, highlighting the potential of targeted therapy to revolutionize oncology drug development.

  AVA6000, Avacta Group, cancer treatment innovation, clinical trial update, doxorubicin, fibroblast activation protein, oncology drug development, Phase 1a study, pre|CISION technology, targeted chemotherapy