Avacta announces new license agreement

This is used to separate proteins from blood for medical use. Affimers are Avacta’s high-tech alternative to antibodies.

Wetherby-based Avacta said Affinity separation is a crucial step in the development of antibody therapeutics.

The antibody itself is pulled out of a complex mixture of proteins by the process. This technique has opened the door to huge numbers of therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease. A number of antibodies are also being trialled for the treatment of Covid-19.

Avacta said Astrea is a leading provider of affinity separation solutions to the pharmaceutical and biomanufacturing industries. It is a division of Gamma Biosciences, the life sciences tools platform created by KKR, to build a leading position in next-generation bioprocessing for advanced therapies.

The agreement includes a £500,000 upfront payment to Avacta which gives Astrea the rights to generate and develop Affimer reagents in-house for affinity separation.

It also provides Astrea with an option to convert the agreement into an exclusive license if certain commercial performance criteria are met over the next three years and subject to the payment of an additional undisclosed option exercise fee.

Avacta will receive royalties on future sales of Astrea's purification products that contain Affimer reagents.

Alastair Smith, chief executive of Avacta Group, said: "I am delighted to have entered into this license agreement with Astrea following their evaluation of the Affimer platform.

"It is another strong endorsement of the Affimer technology as well as an important validation of the licensing business model driven by an active pipeline of ongoing, paid-for technology evaluations."