Avacta Group plc announced that Christina Coughlin, M.D., Ph.D. will take up the position of Head of Research and Development, overseeing all clinical development and pre-clinical research activities of the Therapeutics Division. Dr. Coughlin has served as a Non-executive Director of Avacta Group plc since March 2022 and has recently acted as Consultant Medical Adviser to the Therapeutics Division. Chris trained as an oncologist and immunologist and has been pivotal in driving the clinical development strategy for AVA6000, Avacta's lead pre|CISION tumour targeted therapy, and the broader drug pipeline strategy at the Company.

Dr. Coughlin will take up the permanent post of Head of Research and Development on 1 February, responsible for all pre-clinical research and clinical development activities and pipeline strategy. Dr. Coughlin will remain on the Avacta Board as an Executive Director. Her early career began in large pharmaceutical companies including Wyeth, Pfizer and Novartis.

Christina has since held several senior leadership roles in biotech companies including Immunocore, Tmunity and Rubius where she was Chief Medical Officer, leading clinical development, translational medicine and regulatory efforts across the pipelines of those companies. Most recently she served as the Chief Executive Officer of Cytolmmune Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel cancer immunotherapy products. Dr. Coughlin earned her M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and trained in haematology and oncology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Her post-doctoral research was under Robert Vonderheide, M.D., D.Phil. in the Translational Research Group at the University of Pennsylvania under the direction of Carl June, M.D. Avacta also announces that Dr. Fiona McLaughlin will step down as Chief Scientific Officer of the Therapeutics Division after three years in the role, during which she has contributed significantly to the development of the Therapeutics Division and its programmes. Fiona will continue to work with the Company through a transitionary period.