Avacta confirms China patent for Affimer technology

Shares in Avacta Group are up more than 5% after it said the principal patent protecting the Affimer technology has been accepted for grant in the People's Republic of China.

"On issuance, this patent will extend coverage of Avacta's intellectual property into another potentially large market for the company," it said.

Avacta noted that China now accounted for more than one fifth of the global therapeutic antibody market.

Counterparts to this patent have already been granted in the US, Europe and Japan.

Affimer technology was based on a small protein that has been engineered to present a "sticky" surface that can be made to bind strongly and specifically to a target of interest such as another protein or virus.

The way in which the Affimer was engineered to give it the ability to bind a target was the core invention covered by Avacta's intellectual property.

Avacta was commercialising the Affimer technology through a licensing model to developers of diagnostic and research products, and was building a pipeline of Affimer drugs both in-house and with partners.

At 10:58 BST, shares in AIM-quoted Avacta were up 5.26% to 90p each.