Board Director Changes

Avacta Group PLC

29 May 2026

 

Board Director Changes

LONDON and PHILADELPHIA - May 29, 2026 - Avacta Therapeutics (AIM: AVCT, "the Company", "Avacta"), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing pre|CISION^®, a tumor-activated oncology delivery platform, today announced that Richard Hughes, one of Avacta's non-executive Directors, will become non-executive Chairman of Avacta following the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on June 22, 2026.

Shaun Chilton, who was appointed to the Board in 2022 and has served as non-executive Chairman since 2024, has decided not to seek re-election at the AGM. He will remain available to the Company as an advisor to the CEO and Board of Directors.

Richard Hughes was appointed a non-executive Director in May 2025.  He has had a long and successful career in UK capital markets with over 30 years' corporate finance experience.  He was a founder shareholder and a director of boohoo.com and a majority shareholder of Crawford Healthcare. He is a Director of Zeus Group.

The Company is conducting a recruitment process for a non-executive Deputy Chairman who will serve as the Senior Independent Director, with proven international expertise in the biotechnology sector, to support the Board as it guides the company through the ongoing development of its pipeline and engagement with potential partners from the pharma sector.  The process is currently ongoing to recruit an individual to fill these roles.

Christina Coughlin, CEO of Avacta, commented:

"On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Shaun for his considerable contribution over the last four years as a Director, and most recently as our Chairman. During Shaun's tenure, Avacta has become a tightly focused clinical-stage biotechnology company developing valuable cancer therapeutics from its increasingly validated proprietary pre|CISION^® platform. I am deeply grateful for his leadership and the strong working relationship we have shared throughout this ongoing transition. We wish him all the best.

"We are delighted to welcome Richard Hughes as Avacta's non-executive Chairman as part of this transition plan. Richard brings extensive experience which will be important for Avacta as we continue to deliver on the unique advantages of our pre|CISION^® platform, now with two products progressing through clinical development. I look forward to working with Richard in his new capacity as Chairman."

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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 / Media / Investors Richard Jarvis	[e-mail]

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 to provide unique benefits over traditional antibody drug conjugates, 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 faridoxorubicin (AVA6000), a Gen One FAP-enabled pre|CISION^® version of doxorubicin that delivers the payload directly in the tumor with limited peripheral blood exposure and has demonstrated preliminary activity in tumor types sensitive to doxorubicin including salivary gland cancer and soft tissue sarcoma. 

About FAP-Exd (AVA6103)

AVA6103 is the second clinical candidate and is the first asset in the pipeline based on the Gen Two innovative pre|CISION^® sustained 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 in Oncologic Cancers with Unmet 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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