AustCancer changes name, sets course for US

Oncology drug developer Australian Cancer Technology (ASX:ACU) has changed its name to Avantogen, and flagged its intention to relocate its headquarters to San Diego, on the US west coast, within a few years.

Shareholders voted for the name change at a general meeting in Sydney on May 9. The company will continue trading on the ASX for the time being, but chief financial officer Tom Milicevic said today the Avantogen board would consider within the next 12 to 24 months whether to de-list, or seek dual listing in Australia and the US.

Avantogen has established a Level 1 ADR stock program in the US, trading under the code AUCJY, in pursuit of a Nasdaq listing, and is also listed on Xetra, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's electronic trading system, under the code CBS. The name change will not affect either code.

"The US is where the action is," Milicevic said. "We don't have any research facilities in Australia, because we outsource all our research, and it makes no sense to run two head offices in Sydney and San Diego.

"Our CEO is already based in San Diego, and as we get things sorted out, we'll gradually phase out our office here [in Sydney]."

Even if Avantogen relocates completely to the US, it will continue to to seek commercialisation opportunities from Australian research, Milicevic said.

A Phase IIb trial of the company's Pentrys cancer vaccine as a prostate cancer therapy is due to finish late this year, and results will be released early next year.

The company would then seek a large pharma partner in the US to run a large Phase III trial Pentrys trial.

CEO Dr Leonard Firestone, who was appointed in March after the resignation of Paul Hopper from the role, said the name change symbolised the beginning of a new, exciting era in the company's history, following a concentrated period of technology acquisitions and restructuring of its board and management.

"With two Phase II cancer product candidates in the clinic, and an extremely promising vaccine adjuvant involved in several phase I US trials, Avantogen is now poised for a sustained period or rapid growth in value and stature."

Avantogen's other Phase II drug is the promising pancreatic cancer drug RP101, while its vaccine adjuvant GPI-0100, acquired during last July's takeover of Galenica, is currently being evaluated in three Phase 1 trials in the US.