– UK, London – Avacta Group plc (LON: AVCT), a life sciences company developing innovative, targeted cancer treatments and powerful diagnostics, today announced the appointment of Darlene Deptula-Hicks to its Board as a Non-Executive Director, effective 26 June 2024.
“Avacta is at a pivotal time in its evolution, intensifying its focus on advancing our pre|CISION™ technology through clinical development. As we do so, it’s critical that the Avacta Board has the right commercial, financial and operational experience to support this. We look forward to working with Darlene in developing our capital market strategy and potential partnerships.” said Board Chairman, Shaun Chilton.
About Darlene Deptula-Hicks
Ms. Deptula-Hicks is a highly accomplished financial executive with decades of experience working with and advising private and public life sciences companies. She is interim CFO at Normunity, and before that served as CFO of F-star Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FSTX), which she took public in 2020 and successfully sold in 2023. Previously, she held the role of CFO at Northern Biologics and T2 Biosystems (NASDAQ: TTOO). She also served as SVP and CFO of Pieris Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PIRS) which she also took public. Ms. Deptula-Hicks currently sits on the Board of Directors of Abcuro and Aerami Therapeutics, providing strategic financial and business direction. Ms. Deptula-Hicks received her M.B.A. from Rivier University and her B.S. in Accounting from Southern New Hampshire University.
Darlene Deptula-Hicks said, “It’s an exciting time to be joining the Board of Avacta as the Company expands the clinical development of its therapeutic business and prepares to release a pipeline of innovative new medicines. I look forward to working with the Board and management, bringing my global market experience and contributing to the Company’s strategy and success.”
About Avacta Group plc
Avacta Group is a UK-based life sciences company focused on improving healthcare outcomes through targeted cancer treatments and diagnostics.
Avacta Therapeutics: a clinical-stage oncology biotech division harnessing proprietary therapeutic platforms to develop novel, highly targeted cancer drugs.
Avacta Diagnostics focuses on supporting healthcare professionals and broadening access to diagnostics.
Avacta has two proprietary platforms, pre|CISION™ and Affimer®.
The pre|CISION™ platform 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 activate pre|CISION™ peptide drug conjugates and pre|CISION™ antibody/Affimer® drug conjugates in the tumor microenvironment, reducing systemic exposure and toxicity, allowing dosing to be optimized to deliver the best outcomes for patients.
The lead pre|CISION™ program AVA6000, a peptide drug conjugate form of doxorubicin, is in Phase 1 studies. It has shown an improvement in safety and tolerability in clinical trials to date compared with standard doxorubicin and preliminary signs of clinical activity in multiple patients.
- Disclaimer - News, data, and statements included in this release are intended exclusively for general information purposes. Talent4Boards does not guarantee that news is accurate or about the correct person and accepts neither liability for the consequences of the reader’s reliance, nor responsibility for the accuracy of the information. Nothing in this release should be considered for decisions about referred securities. Products and brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.