Avacta Group - ADC, partnerships as easy as one, two, three

Avacta’s 12-month results to July 2019 highlight ongoing momentum, as evidenced by three new partnerships (LG Chem, ADC Therapeutics and New England Biolabs), advancement of its pipeline towards the clinic and robust revenue growth in its research and diagnostic reagents division. Avacta recently announced a multi-target (focused on cancer) collaboration and licensing agreement with ADC Therapeutics to develop Affimer drug conjugates, providing further validation for Avacta’s technology. Avacta’s pro-doxorubicin compound AVA6000 (utilising Tufts’ linker technology) is expected to start clinical trials in Q220, while lead Affimer AVA004 (PD-L1) is shortly expected to complete cell line development. We value Avacta at £47m or 40p/share.