Avacta Group PLC
06 October 2026
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT, IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) 596 / 2014 WHICH FORMS PART OF UK LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 (AS AMENDED) ("MAR").
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Avacta Group plc
("Avacta" or the "Group" or the "Company")
Results of Placing and Subscription
LONDON and PHILADELPHIA – October 6, 2026 – Avacta Therapeutics (AIM: AVCT, “the Company”, “Avacta”), a life sciences company developing innovative, targeted oncology drugs, is pleased to announce that, further to the Company’s announcement at 4:22 p.m. on 5 October 2026 (the “Launch Announcement”), the Company has conditionally raised gross proceeds of £12.5 million through the Placing of 17,411,766 new Ordinary Shares (the "Placing Shares") and Subscription for 970,587 new Ordinary Shares (the "Subscription Shares"), in each case, both at a price of 68 pence per Ordinary Share (the “Issue Price”).
The Placing Shares and the Subscription Shares in aggregate represent approximately 3.9 per cent of the existing issued ordinary share capital of the Company and the Issue Price represents a discount of approximately 5.6 per cent to the closing mid-market price of 72 pence per Ordinary Share on 29 September 2026, being the last trading day prior to the commencement of the Company’s Capital Access Window. The Placing and Subscription are conditional, inter alia, on Admission occurring and the Placing Agreement not being terminated prior to Admission.
Zeus Capital Limited ("Zeus Capital") acted as sole broker and sole bookrunner (the "Bookrunner") in connection with the Placing and Subscription. Beech Hill Securities, Inc. ("Beech Hill") acted as private placement agent (“Placing Agent”) to the Company.
Christina Coughlin, CEO of Avacta, commented:
“Avacta has made considerable progress through 2026, with our Next-Generation Controlled-Release pre|CISION®candidate AVA6103 moving rapidly from Investigational New Drug approval to the clinic and the delivery of the first data showing the controlled-release mechanism is working in patients precisely as intended. Our other pipeline assets are also progressing, including the Next-Gen dual-payload program AVA6207 and the first-generation pre|CISION® candidate AVA6000 (faridoxorubicin) continuing in Phase 1b development.
“This Fundraise demonstrates tremendous confidence in Avacta and in our pre|CISION platform’s ability to expand the reach of highly potent cancer treatments that have been limited by toxicities. It extends our cash runway into Q2 2027 and funds the Company through multiple value inflection points with transformative potential. Most notably, we anticipate the first clinical efficacy data for AVA6103 in H1 2027, as well as the selection of a clinical candidate for our dual-payload program AVA6207 this quarter, ahead of progression towards IND-enabling studies. The Fundraise also strengthens our partnering position as we continue to pursue discussions to maximize the value of our pipeline assets.”
Close of Capital Access Window and Resumption of Trading
Following completion of the Fundraise, the Company confirms that the Capital Access Window, which commenced at 7.30 am on 30 September 2026, is now closed. Accordingly, the Company's existing Ordinary Shares are expected to resume trading on AIM at 7.30 am today.
Capitalized terms used in this announcement but not otherwise defined have the meanings given to them in the Launch Announcement, unless the context provides otherwise.
Director Subscriptions
As described in the Launch Announcement, certain Directors, being Richard Hughes, Patrick Vink, David Byrant and Mats Blom (the "Participating Directors"), have subscribed for 970,587 new Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price, representing an aggregate investment of approximately £660,000 pursuant to the Subscription.
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Director |
Position |
Aggregate Subscription Amount |
Number of Subscription Shares |
Resultant Shareholding |
% of Enlarged Share Capital |
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Richard Hughes |
Non-Executive Chairman |
£500,000 |
735,294 |
1,528,945 |
0.31 |
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Patrick Vink |
Non-Executive Deputy Chairman |
£75,000 |
110,294 |
110,294 |
0.02 |
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David Bryant |
Non-Executive Director |
£50,000 |
73,529 |
152,894 |
0.03 |
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Mats Blom |
Non-Executive Director |
£35,000 |
51,470 |
51,470 |
0.01 |
Related Party Transactions
Participation of Zeus Capital in the Placing
Zeus Capital subscribed for 180,001 Ordinary Shares at the Issue Price, for a consideration of £122,400.68 (the "Zeus Placing Participation"). Richard Hughes, Non-Executive Chairman of the Company, is an associate of Zeus Capital, being a director and majority shareholder of Zeus Capital. Accordingly, Zeus Capital is a related party of the Company, and the Zeus Placing Participation constitutes a related party transaction under Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies.
The independent directors of the Company for the purposes of assessing the Zeus Placing Participation (being all the Directors other than Richard Hughes), having consulted with Strand Hanson, the Company's Nominated Adviser, consider that Zeus Placing Participation is fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.
Admission and total voting rights
Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of the Placing Shares and Subscription Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission will become effective and dealings in such Ordinary Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on or around 9 October 2026. The Placing Shares and the Subscription Shares will be issued fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company's Existing Ordinary Shares.
Admission is conditional upon, among other things, the Placing Agreement not having been terminated and becoming unconditional in all respects.
Immediately following Admission, the Company's enlarged issued ordinary share capital will be 489,712,861 Ordinary Shares. This figure may be used by holders of Ordinary Shares ("Shareholders") as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
-Ends-
For further information from Avacta, please contact:
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Avacta Group plc Christina Coughlin, Chief Executive Officer |
via Cohesion Bureau |
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Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser) James Harris / Chris Raggett / James Dance
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Zeus (Broker) James Hornigold / George Duxberry (Investment Banking) Dominic King / Alex Bartram (Corporate Broking)
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Beech Hill Securities Thomas Lawrence / George Billington
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Cohesion Bureau Communications / Media / Investors Chris Maggos
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About Avacta-https://avacta.com/
Avacta Therapeutics is a clinical-stage life sciences company expanding the reach of highly potent cancer therapies through its proprietary pre|CISION® platform. pre|CISION® is a payload delivery system based on a tumor-specific protease (Fibroblast Activation Protein or FAP) that is designed to concentrate highly potent payloads in the tumor microenvironment while sparing normal tissues. Avacta’s innovative pre|CISION® peptide drug conjugates (PDC) are a novel entry to the XDC drug class, leveraging the success of antibody drug conjugates with alternative methods of delivery beyond antibodies.
Our pre|CISION® PDCs leverage this tumor-specific release mechanism in a small molecule format to provide unique benefits over traditional antibody drug conjugates (ADC), releasing active payload in the tumor and reducing systemic exposure and toxicity which enables dosing to be optimized to deliver the best outcomes for patients. The lead clinical program is AVA6103, a Next GenerationFAP-enabled controlled release pre|CISION® version ofexatecan that delivers the payload directly in the tumor with limited peripheral blood exposure and is currently in clinical development as a treatment for tumor types sensitive to exatecan including cervical cancer, HR+ breast cancer, small cell lung cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer.
About FAP-Exd (AVA6103)
AVA6103 is the second clinical candidate and is the first asset in the pipeline based on the Next-Generation innovative pre|CISION® controlled-release mechanism that provides for prolonged release of payload directly in the tumor, minimizing systemic exposure. AVA6103 is being evaluated in the FOCUS-01 Phase 1 trial (FAP-Exd inOncologicCancers withUnmet needS). Preclinical data suggest this approach has optimized payload delivery with a high intratumoral concentration and prolonged exposure of released payload in the tumor, coupled with limited systemic exposure to the released payload.
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Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
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a)
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Name
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Reason for the notification
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Position/status
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Initial notification /Amendment
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Initial notification | |||||||||||||||
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Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
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Name
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Avacta Group Plc | |||||||||||||||
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LEI
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2138009U3EG31OPMGH36 | |||||||||||||||
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Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
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a)
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Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument
Identification code
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Ordinary Shares of 10p each in the Company
GB00BYYW9G87 | |||||||||||||||
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b)
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Nature of the transaction
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Subscription for Ordinary Shares | |||||||||||||||
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Price(s) and volume(s)
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Purchase of shares:
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Aggregated information
- Aggregated volume
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970,587
68p
£659,999 | |||||||||||||||
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Date of the transaction
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6 October 2026 | |||||||||||||||
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Place of the transaction
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LSE, AIM Market
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IMPORTANT NOTICES
This Announcement may contain "forward-looking statements" with respect to certain of the Company's plans and its current goals and expectations relating to its future financial condition, performance, strategic initiatives, objectives and results. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "forecasts", "plans", "prepares", "anticipates", "projects", "expects", "intends", "may", "will", "seeks", "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy, plans, objectives, goals, future events or intentions. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this Announcement and include statements regarding the Company's or the Directors' intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, amongst other things, the Company's prospects, growth and strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. The Company's actual performance, achievements and financial condition may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this Announcement. In addition, even if the Company's results of operations, performance, achievements and financial condition are consistent with the forward-looking statements in this Announcement, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods. Any forward-looking statements that the Company makes in this Announcement speak only as of the date of such statement and (other than in accordance with their legal or regulatory obligations) neither the Company, nor the Banks nor any of their respective associates, directors, officers or advisers undertakes any obligation to update such statements.Comparisons of results for current and any prior periods are not intended to express any future trends or indications of future performance, unless expressed as such, and should only be viewed as historical data.
Strand Hanson, which is authorized and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA, is acting as nominated adviser exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with the Placing and the contents of this Announcement and will not regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this Announcement) as its client in relation to the Placing nor will it be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the contents of this Announcement. Apart from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed on Strand Hanson by FSMA or the regulatory regime established thereunder, Strand Hanson accepts no responsibility whatsoever, and makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the contents of this Announcement including its accuracy, completeness or verification or for any other statement made or purported to be made by it, or on behalf of it, the Company or any other person, in connection with the Company and the contents of this Announcement, whether as to the past or the future. Strand Hanson accordingly disclaims all and any liability whatsoever, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save as referred to above), which it might otherwise have in respect of the contents of this Announcement or any such statement.
Zeus Capital, which is authorized and regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA, is acting as broker and sole bookrunner exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with the Placing and the contents of this Announcement and will not regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this Announcement) as its client in relation to the Placing nor will it be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the contents of this Announcement. Apart from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed on Zeus Capital by FSMA or the regulatory regime established thereunder, Zeus Capital accepts no responsibility whatsoever, and makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the contents of this Announcement including its accuracy, completeness or verification or for any other statement made or purported to be made by it, or on behalf of it, the Company or any other person, in connection with the Company and the contents of this Announcement, whether as to the past or the future. Zeus Capital accordingly disclaims all and any liability whatsoever, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save as referred to above), which it might otherwise have in respect of the contents of this Announcement or any such statement.
Beech Hill is acting as U.S. placing agent exclusively for the Company and no one else in connection with the Placing and the contents of this Announcement and will not regard any other person (whether or not a recipient of this Announcement) as its client in relation to the Placing nor will it be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the contents of this Announcement. Apart from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed on Beech Hill by applicable law , Beech Hill accepts no responsibility whatsoever, and makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the contents of this Announcement including its accuracy, completeness or verification or for any other statement made or purported to be made by it, or on behalf of it, the Company or any other person, in connection with the Company and the contents of this Announcement, whether as to the past or the future. Beech Hill accordingly disclaims all and any liability whatsoever, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save as referred to above), which it might otherwise have in respect of the contents of this Announcement or any such statement.
No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by either Bank or by any of its affiliates or agents as to, or in relation to, the accuracy or completeness of this Announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers, and any liability therefore is expressly disclaimed.
No statement in this Announcement is intended to be a profit forecast or estimate, and no statement in this Announcement should be interpreted to mean that earnings per share of the Company for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings per share of the Company.
The price of shares and any income expected from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the full amount invested upon disposal of the shares.Past performance is no guide to future performance, and persons needing advice should consult an independent financial adviser.
The new Ordinary Shares to be issued pursuant to the Fundraise will not be admitted to trading on any stock exchange other than AIM.
Neither the content of the Company's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks on the Company's website is incorporated in, or forms part of, this Announcement.
This Announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, the Company.
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