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Avacta Licenses Affimer Tech to New England Biolabs

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — British biotech firm Avacta announced on Wednesday that it has licensed its affimer technology to New England Biolabs (NEB) for use in an assay NEB is currently developing  for research and diagnostic applications.

Actava said it has developed affimers that specifically inhibit certain of NEB's proprietary enzymes, enabling modulation of their activity in response to temperature. Ipswich, Massachusetts-based NEB is in the final stages of testing an assay that uses Actava's affimers, and the licensing deal allows for the product's commercialization.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Actava said that it will receive an undisclosed royalty on product sales, which could begin next year.

"We have built a pipeline of evaluations and collaborations, such as this one with New England Biolabs, to deliver numerous license agreements to commercialize affimer-based products," Avacta CEO Alastair Smith said in a statement. "Collectively, these royalty bearing licenses will underpin the future high-margin revenue from affimer reagents."

Avacta said that it expects to continue working with NEB to create affimer tools and inhibitors of additional enzymes for future product development.

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