Business
Avacta and OncoSec to Collaborate
Avacta and OncoSec to Collaborate.
About this update from Avacta Group Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 4499C Avacta Group PLC 22 January 2018 \n\n \n \n \n \n \n22 January 2018\n \nAvacta Group plc\n \n(\"Avacta\" or \"the Group\" or \"the Company\")\n \nAvacta and OncoSec to Collaborate on Innovative Gene Delivery of Therapeutic Affimers\n \nAvacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), the developer of Affimer® biotherapeutics and reagents, and OncoSec Medical Incorporated (\"OncoSec\") (NASDAQ: ONCS), a company developing intratumoral cancer immunotherapies, are pleased to announce they have entered into a research collaboration to combine Avacta's Affimer protein platform with OncoSec's gene delivery technology ImmunoPulse®. The research programme will evaluate the benefits of delivering Affimer protein genes directly into tumors using the OncoSec technology with the long-term aim of developing gene delivered Affimer immunotherapies. \n \nAffimer biotherapeutics are a novel engineered alternative to antibodies based on a fully human small protein that can be quickly engineered to bind with high specificity and affinity to a wide range of protein targets. The size and biophysical characteristics of Affimer proteins make them an ideal candidate for gene delivery approaches. \n \nOncoSec has developed a gene delivery technology (see About Gene Delivery) called ImmunoPulse that has clinically demonstrated safe and efficient delivery of DNA encoded proteins directly into a patient's tumor. OncoSec's prior Phase 2 OMS I-102 combination study of ImmunoPulse® IL-12 and pembrolizumab successfully demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the platform with a 50% best overall response rate and a 41% complete response rate in 22 patients unlikely to respond to anti-PD-1 therapy. OncoSec was also granted Orphan Drug and FastTrack Designation for pIL-12, otherwise known as tavokinogene telseplasmid or \"tavo,\" from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).\n \nThe collaboration between the companies aims to show that, by using ImmunoPulse to deliver DNA encoding Avacta's immuno-modulatory Affimers, including Avacta's PD-L1 inhibitor (AVA04), into tumor cells and other tissues, a clinically relevant dose can be achieved. The companies plan to then demonstrate efficacy of the Affimers in a relevant in vivo tumor model.\n \nResults from...