Avacta Group, a spinout developing antibody alternatives, has secured £22m ($34.2m) in a round backed by commercialisation firm IP Group.
The Leeds University spinout is commercialising affirmers, engineered proteins that mimic antibodies. Avacta has said affirmers outperform antibodies in targeting pathogens, and are also easier to develop.
Avacta held an IPO in 2006, and raised the money through the placement of ordinary shares at £1.25 per share. Currently, IP Group maintains a 29.2% stake in Avacta, and is joined as a significant shareholder by Henderson Global Investors with 15%, Ruffer at 7.2%, Baillie Gifford & Co. at 4%, and Octopus Investments at 3.4%.
The company also signed a deal in May with Moderna Therapeutics – which raised the largest biotech round in history at the start of the year with $450m. Moderna provided a $500,000 upfront payment for exclusive access to affirmers with potential further payments on the line if Avacta hits certain milestones.
Alastair Smith, CEO of Avacta, commented: “We have made excellent progress in demonstrating the potential of the affimer technology as a bio-therapeutic platform to rival antibodies. We believe our proprietary affimer technology has significant competitive advantages that address the limitations of antibodies and other non-antibody protein scaffolds which suggests that they have the potential to become a leading alternative bio-therapeutic platform. This fundraising will allow us to resource the development of affimers as therapeutics, in addition to the ongoing development and commercialisation of affimers as research reagents, and we thank our existing investors for their continuing support and welcome a number of new investors.”
