Avacta Therapeutics (AIM: AVCT) has launched an accelerated bookbuild and subscription seeking minimum gross proceeds of approximately £12.5 million.
New shares will be issued at 68p each, representing a discount of approximately 5.6% to the 72p closing mid-market price on 29 September 2026, the final trading day before Avacta entered its Capital Access Window.
The fundraising is intended to extend Avacta’s existing cash runway from early Q1 2027 into Q2 2027, while strengthening the balance sheet during continuing discussions with potential partners for its Next-Generation pre|CISION assets.
Approximately £2.5 million of the proceeds will be used to make the next quarterly convertible bond repayment in cash, due on 20 October 2026.
The remainder will support development of Avacta’s oncology pipeline, including AVA6103, AVA6000 and the dual-payload AVA6207 programme, alongside general working capital.
The fundraising follows Avacta’s September announcement that it had achieved clinical proof of mechanism for AVA6103 in the ongoing Phase 1 FOCUS-01 trial.
Preliminary data from the first three dose levels showed what the company described as a clean safety profile, including dosing at a payload level approximately 50% above the maximum tolerated dose of conventional exatecan.
Pharmacokinetic data also showed controlled release of exatecan over several days and were reported to align closely with Avacta’s preclinical modelling.
Importantly, these results demonstrate mechanism and early safety characteristics rather than clinical efficacy.
The first efficacy data from the FOCUS-01 study are expected during H1 2027, making those results a key future test of whether the tumour selectivity and anti-tumour effects seen preclinically translate into patients.
Avacta is also continuing the Phase 1b expansion cohorts of AVA6000, while progressing AVA6207, which is designed to release two synergistic payloads from a single FAP-cleavage event.
The company expects to disclose the selected AVA6207 payloads and supporting dataset during Q4 2026, ahead of IND-enabling work and planning for a Phase 1 study.
Four Avacta directors have indicated their intention to subscribe for approximately £660,000, representing 969,000 shares at the same 68p issue price.
Neither the placing nor subscription is underwritten, meaning completion remains dependent on sufficient investor demand through the accelerated bookbuild and subscription process.
Avacta shares have remained suspended from normal trading under the Capital Access Window since 30 September and are expected to remain paused until the company announces the outcome of the fundraising.
For investors, the fundraise addresses an immediate balance-sheet requirement and provides additional time for Avacta to generate clinical data and pursue partnering discussions.
However, the financing extends the runway by only several months, while £2.5 million of the proceeds is earmarked for debt repayment rather than clinical development.
The immediate catalysts are therefore the final size of the fundraising, the resulting dilution, the Q4 AVA6207 update and first AVA6103 efficacy data in H1 2027.
