Avacta Enters License Agreement with POINT Biopharma

Avacta Group has announced, in a Jan 6, 2021 press release, that it has entered into a license agreement with POINT Biopharma, granting access to its pre|CISION technology for the development of tumor-activated radiopharmaceuticals.

The activation platform technology from Avacta can be used to modify a radioligand drug to form a tumor-activated prodrug, which is only activated by an enzyme—fibroblast activation protein (FAP)—present in the tumor micro-environment. Through the license agreement, POINT will have access to Avacta’s technology for use in the first radiopharmaceutical prodrug the company intends to develop. Additionally, POINT will have a non-exclusive license to the technology for the development of a broader pipeline of FAP-activated radiopharmaceuticals.

“I am very pleased to have established this partnership with POINT that allows Avacta to exploit its pre|CISION platform in a therapeutic area outside of our in-house focus on chemotherapy prodrugs,” said Alastair Smith, CEO of Avacta Group, in the press release. “The clinical and commercial rationale for our pre|CISION prodrug platform is to improve the safety and efficacy of many existing drugs, as well as generating a pipeline of new and novel cancer therapies. In oncology, we believe that this approach will result in better response rates for monotherapies, and a greater safety margin, to enable their use with a larger patient population and as part of combination therapies.”

According to the agreement terms, Avacta will receive an upfront fee as well as development milestones for the first radiopharmaceutical prodrug totaling $9.5 million. Further milestone payments will be granted to Avacta for any subsequent radiopharmaceutical prodrugs of up to $8 million each, a royalty on sales of FAP-activated radiopharmaceuticals by POINT and a percentage of any sublicensing income received by POINT.

Source: Avacta