Avacta Group plc and OncoSec Medical Incorporated announced that they have entered into a research collaboration to combine Avacta's Affimer protein platform with OncoSec's gene delivery technology ImmunoPulse®. The research programme will evaluate the benefits of delivering Affimer protein genes directly into tumors using the OncoSec technology with the long-term aim of developing gene delivered Affimer immunotherapies. Affimer biotherapeutics are a novel engineered alternative to antibodies based on a fully human small protein that can be quickly engineered to bind with high specificity and affinity to a wide range of protein targets.

The size and biophysical characteristics of Affimer proteins make them an ideal candidate for gene delivery approaches. OncoSec has developed a gene delivery technology called ImmunoPulse that has clinically demonstrated safe and efficient delivery of DNA encoded proteins directly into a patient's tumor. OncoSec's prior Phase 2 OMS I-102 combination study of ImmunoPulse® IL-12 and pembrolizumab successfully demonstrated the safety and efficacy of the platform with a 50% best overall response rate and a 41% complete response rate in 22 patients unlikely to respond to anti-PD-1 therapy.

The collaboration between the companies aims to show that, by using ImmunoPulse to deliver DNA encoding Avacta's immuno-modulatory Affimers, including Avacta's PD-L1 inhibitor (AVA04), into tumor cells and other tissues, a clinically relevant dose can be achieved. The companies plan to then demonstrate efficacy of the Affimers in a relevant in vivo tumor model. Results from the research collaboration will demonstrate the potential of the combined technologies to create high-value immunotherapy combinations for clinical development and/or licensing.

Each party will bear their own internal costs and will share any third-party costs associated to the partnership, which are estimated to be non-significant.