How the Wetherby-based Avacta Group is striving to find treatments for lung, breast, gastric and bowel cancer

IT cannot claim to be a household name, but Avacta’s work to develop a form of chemotherapy without side effects could be about to cause ripples around the world.

The Yorkshire-based drug developer, which is working on cures for lung, breast, gastric and bowel cancer, plans to start its first human clinical studies in late 2020.

The Wetherby-based firm hopes to come up with a possible cure for these cancers within the next 10 years.

It is unsurprising that some investors are getting excited, although the CEO, Dr Alastair Smith takes a methodical, scientific approach to boosting the Wetherby firm’s profile.

Dr Smith started his career as an academic before deciding he wanted to do something that got him closer to the patient. He found the commercial world more satisfying than the esoteric side of academic work.

“Academic research uncovers new opportunities and biological knowledge we can exploit to create new medicines,” he said.

Dr Smith has a global perspective, after working at the University of Pennsylvania’s chemistry department where he rubbed shoulders with giants in his field.

“America was a great experience but I did not want to plant down roots there,’’ he recalled. “I came back to a job at Leeds University where I built a research group at the interface between physics and biology.

“It was very siloed in the UK at that time, while in the US there were some fabulous collaborations.

He added: “I wanted to create tools to solve problems for life sciences.”

At its heart, Avacta has a simple but incredibly ambitious mission. It was set up to shape the future of medicine by developing safe, effective drugs, and powerful research and diagnostic tools, based around its Affimer and pre|CISIONTM platforms.

Dr Smith had his own career “Eureka” moment when he came across the work of Leeds University academic Paul Ko-Ferrigno who had set out to develop an alternative to antibodies, which are now called Affimers. Affimers can deliver better test results at a faster speed than antibodies.

“They can also be used at the point of care, so you get answers by the bedside,” said Dr Smith. “Affimers can do tests with robust platforms, at the point of care, because they are tough as old boots.”

The Affimer platform is an alternative to antibodies derived from a small human protein. From a therapeutic perspective, the strength of Affimers is that they can be stuck together to make a drug that does two things at the same time.

“They can be used to develop drugs that hit multiple disease pathways at the same time,” said Dr Smith.

Avacta’s second platform technology is called “pre|CISION” and provides a way of removing the side effects of chemotherapy.

Mr Smith said: “The standard form of chemotherapy doxorubicin is extremely effective but has side effects - heart damage- that are extremely serious.”

Avacta is working to create a new form of doxorubicin which is only activated in the tumour. It spares healthy tissue, such as the heart, from damage and will offer a safer, affordable form of chemotherapy.

“It’s really got the market excited,’’ said Dr Smith.

Antibodies help fight vicious viruses or bacteria in the body by binding to them and targeting them for destruction.

The problem with current cancer therapies such as chemotherapy is that they kill off all the cells in their path, not just the cancer cells. In contrast, Affimers zone in on the cancer cells and bypass the body’s healthy cells.

Avacta is expected to begin testing on 20 patients in the fourth quarter of this year, at hospitals based in Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow.

Dr Smith added: “We have got a lot of commercial interest and our primary objective is commercial partnership so we monetise the work we have done.

“If successful with the first trial, we could use the same technique to improve the safety of many common chemotherapies and improve the treatment of a wide range of cancers.

He added: “We aim to develop a safer form of blockbuster chemotherapy drugs.”

Earlier this month, Avacta Group signed a collaboration and license agreement with AffyXell Therapeutics the recently established joint venture with Daewoong Pharmaceutical to develop Affimer proteins to be used by AffyXell for new cell and gene therapies.

Avacta has established drug development partnerships with pharma and biotech, including with Moderna Therapeutics Inc., a deal with LG Chem worth up to $310m, and a partnership with ADC Therapeutics. Avacta is seeking to license its proprietary platforms in a range of therapeutic areas.

Dr Smith believes there is no reason why our region can’t become a centre of excellence in the fight against a host of diseases. A biotech talent pool is being developed in Yorkshire by the big universities. However, getting funding in the UK for the sort of scale that is required by companies like Avacta is not easy.

Mr Smith added: “There is a different appetite for risk in the US compared with the UK and Europe.

“There are always examples of biotech failures. The problem in the UK is that we don’t have counter examples because many of those went to the US and were successful there.

“We have done a good job of creating value in the company and investors in the US can’t believe the market cap of our company.

“There has to be a correction when the market cap will reflect the value that has been created.”

He said Avacta could list in China or the US in the long term. The US, in particular, is a well trodden path for biotech firms that are looking to grow.

Dr Smith added: “Avacta aims to bring good new drugs to people who need them.

“It’s a chance to deliver new diagnostic tools and create potential treatments for cancer that make it a manageable disease.”