LONDON and PHILADELPHIA, July 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avacta Therapeutics (AIM: AVCT, "the Company", "Avacta"), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing pre|CISION^®, a tumor-activated oncology delivery platform, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Patrick Vink, a seasoned healthcare executive, to its Board of Directors as Non-Executive Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent Director.

Dr. Vink serves as Chairman at Arch Biopartners Inc (TSXV:ARCH, OTCQB:ACHFF) and on the board of Spero Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRO) as Nominating and Corporate Governance Chair. He is also Chairman of three privately held companies, Micreos Group (Bilthoven, Netherlands), Secura Bio Inc. (Boston, USA), and F2G Ltd (Manchester, UK), and is a senior advisor to Athyrium Capital Management LP (New York, USA) and Forbion Ventures (Naarden, Netherlands).

Christina Coughlin, CEO of Avacta commented:

"We are delighted to welcome Patrick to the Board of Directors of Avacta. His appointment adds considerable sector experience in Pharma partnering, financing, andoperations, having worked for a number of European and US companies, both private and listed. His extensive experience and expertise in building companies comes at a key time for Avacta as we advance our pipeline, based on our proprietary pre|CISION^® platform which brings unique potential advantages to cancer patients, and continue constructive partnership discussions across our asset portfolio."

Patrick Vink, Deputy Chairman of Avacta, added:

"I am excited to join the Board of Avacta at this important time for the company. Avacta's pre|CISION^® technology has the potential to change the way that the field thinks about cancer therapy. Upcoming data, including the first clinical results from the Gen Two product AVA6103, could be transformative for Avacta, and I look forward to working with management and my fellow Directors to lead the company on the journey ahead."

Previously, Dr. Vink served as Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc., a leader in the anti-infective and acute care hospital market. He oversaw all worldwide commercial and technical operations as well as managing the company's P&L until the successful acquisition of Cubist by Merck. He joined Cubist in 2012 as Senior Vice President and Head of International Business Operations having started his career at Sanofi and held senior executive roles at Biogen, Sandoz, and Mylan.

Dr. Vink served as a member of the Executive Committee of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) between 2013 and 2015. He graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Leiden, Netherlands in 1988 and obtained his MBA in 1992 at the University of Rochester.

For further information from Avacta, please contact:

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. 

Further Information Pursuant to Rule 17 and Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies

Mr Vink, aged 63, currently holds or has held the following directorships or partnerships in the past five years:

Mr Vink currently holds no ordinary shares in the Company. There are no further disclosures required in accordance with AIM Rule 17 or Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in respect of the appointment of Mr Vink.

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