- Cancer drug candidate AVA6000 positive safety review
- Dosing trial proceeds to fourth cohort
- Shares resilient despite weak biotechnology sector
Clinical stage cancer drug developer and diagnostics company Avacta (AVCT:AIM) said the first in-human phase one trial of its cancer drug AVA6000 will proceed to the fourth dosing following a positive review.
The good news sent the shares, in positive territory year-to-date, 3.3% higher to 130p. Many biotechnology companies have seen their share prices hammered over the last year to levels below where they stood before the pandemic. In contrast Avacta shares are 430% higher.
The drug candidate AVA6000 is a novel form of the generic chemotherapy agent doxorubicin used to treat solid tumours. It reduces the exposure of healthy tissues to doxorubicin and adverse side effects.
Doxorubicin is widely used as part of standard of care in several tumour types and the market size is expected to grow to $1.38 billion by 2024.
GREEN LIGHT FROM SAFETY COMMITTEE
Avacta’s Safety Data Monitoring Committee comprised of clinicians completed a review of the safety data from the third cohort of patients dosed with AVA6000.
The committee recommended that the trial continues as planned with the fourth cohort given a higher dosage. The current phase of the study is designed to evaluate the appropriate dosing levels and confirm safety and tolerability at the maximum tolerated dose.
CEO Alastair Smith commented: ‘We are very much encouraged by this recommendation from the SDMC to move onto the fourth dose cohort in our ongoing ALS-6000-101 Phase 1 dose escalation study.
‘This very positive progress reflects the safety profile and tolerability demonstrated in patients enrolled in the study to date.’
