LONDON and PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avacta Therapeutics (AIM: AVCT, "the Company", "Avacta"), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing pre|CISION®, a tumor-activated oncology delivery platform, has appointed Francis Wilson as its Chief Scientific Officer.
Since joining Avacta in September 2022 as Vice President of Chemistry, Francis has demonstrated his extensive expertise and experience in the chemistry field, particularly in the development of the Company's pre|CISION® platform. Francis has been instrumental in the development of novel intellectual property around the pre|CISION® mechanism, notably the sustained release mechanism that forms the backbone of the FAP-Exd (AVA6103) program that is anticipated to begin clinical testing in the near term. He has also established himself as an industry leader in medicinal chemistry, a valued external speaker for the Company, and a strong team leader within the Avacta organization.
Before Avacta, Francis held various positions across the medicinal chemistry sector, including being a Research Scientist at Roche Discovery Welwyn from 1990-2001, Head of Chemistry at Xenova (2001-2003), Director of Chemistry at Cellzome (2003-2007) and Director of Chemistry at Summit Therapeutics (2007-2022) where he led multiple programs from discovery into clinical development.
Francis has a chemistry degree and holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford University and is a Chartered Chemist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Along with this leadership change, former CSO Michelle Morrow will be leaving Avacta to pursue another opportunity. The Company thanks her for her contributions and wishes her success in the future.
Christina Coughlin, CEO of Avacta Therapeutics commented,
"Francis is the ideal person to take us forward, both internally and across our industry, given his deep knowledge of the working of our unique pre|CISION® platform. Francis has demonstrated his keen ability to foster an environment of innovation, and this has been instrumental in developing significant advances in the options for our pre|CISION® platform to be used in the clinic. As Avacta enters a period of potentially significant preclinical development and intellectual property generation, we look forward to leveraging Francis' expertise and leadership in the drug development arena."
"In addition to his leadership internally, he has also been a key member of the team positioning our business across the international drug development sector. Francis is a well-known leader in medicinal chemistry externally and we are looking forward to forging the next chapter of pre|CISION® with his scientific leadership and expertise. We also extend our well wishes to Michelle in the next chapter of her career and thank her for her contributions to Avacta."
Francis Wilson, CSO of Avacta added:
"I am thrilled to step into this role and look forward to partnering with Chris and the Management Team to move Avacta forward to our next chapter. Seeing AVA6103 - the molecule we invented - move to the clinic is a huge success for the Company. We will learn more about this program in the clinic and apply that as we continue to develop novel intellectual property around our highly successful pre|CISION® platform."
For further information from Avacta, please contact:
| Avacta Group plc Christina Coughlin, Chief Executive Officer | https://avacta.com/ via Cohesion Bureau |
| Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser) James Harris / Chris Raggett / James Dance | www.strandhanson.co.uk |
| Zeus (Broker) James Hornigold / George Duxberry / Dominic King | www.zeuscapital.co.uk |
| Cohesion Bureau (Communications) Richard Jarvis / Chris Maggos | avacta@cohesionbureau.com |
About Avacta - https://avacta.com/
Avacta Therapeutics is a clinical-stage life sciences company expanding the reach of highly potent cancer therapies with the pre|CISION® platform. pre|CISION® is a proprietary 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.
Our innovative pipeline consists of pre|CISION® peptide drug conjugates (PDC) or Affimer® drug conjugates (AffDC) that leverage the tumor-specific release mechanism, providing unique benefits over traditional antibody drug conjugates.
The pre|CISION® platform comprises an anticancer payload conjugated to a proprietary peptide that is a highly specific substrate for fibroblast activation protein (FAP) which is upregulated in most solid tumors compared with healthy tissues. The pre|CISION® platform harnesses this tumor specific protease to cleave pre|CISION® peptide drug conjugates and pre|CISION® antibody/Affimer® drug conjugates in the tumor microenvironment, thus releasing active payload in the tumor and reducing systemic exposure and toxicity, allowing dosing to be optimized to deliver the best outcomes for patients.
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