Affimed Announces Collaboration with Genentech to Develop Novel NK Cell Engager-based Immunotherapeutics for Multiple Cancer ...
August 27 2018 - 04:10PM
Affimed will receive $96 million upfront and committed
funding and is eligible for up to an additional $5.0 billion
including milestone payments, and royalties on sales
Heidelberg, Germany, August 27, 2018 - Affimed
N.V. (Nasdaq: AFMD), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company
focused on discovering and developing highly targeted cancer
immunotherapies that harness the power of innate and adaptive
immunity (NK and T cells), today announced that it has entered into
a strategic collaboration agreement with Genentech, a member of the
Roche Group, to develop and commercialize novel NK cell
engager-based immunotherapeutics to treat multiple cancers.
Affimed will apply its proprietary Redirected
Optimized Cell Killing (ROCK®) platform, which enables the
generation of both NK cell and T cell-engaging antibodies, to
discover and advance innate immune cell engager-based
immunotherapeutics of interest to Genentech. The collaboration
includes candidate products generated from Affimed's ROCK® platform
and multiple undisclosed solid and hematologic tumor targets.
Affimed and Genentech will collaborate on the discovery, early
research and late-stage research phases. Genentech will be
responsible for clinical development and commercialization
worldwide.
"We are incredibly excited to work with
Genentech, a leader in oncology with a long history of excellence
in the discovery and development of medicines to treat cancer,"
said Dr. Adi Hoess, Affimed's CEO. "This strategic partnership
marks an important step on our path to leverage the full potential
of innate immune cells in oncology."
Under the terms of the agreement, Affimed will
receive $96 million in an initial upfront payment and other
near-term committed funding. Affimed may be eligible to receive up
to an additional $5.0 billion over time, including payments upon
achievement of specified development, regulatory and commercial
milestones, and royalties on sales. The agreement is subject to
customary closing conditions, including clearance under the
Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, and closing is
expected to occur in the third quarter of 2018.
"This collaboration is based on Affimed's innate
immune cell drug discovery and development expertise and our team's
deep understanding of cancer immunology," commented James Sabry,
M.D., Ph.D., Global Head of Partnering, Roche. "Our partnership
with Affimed provides an opportunity to enhance our existing
efforts to understand how the immune system can be activated to
help people living with cancer."
About Affimed's ROCK® Platform
Affimed's proprietary, versatile and modular
ROCK® (Redirected Optimized Cell Killing) platform enables the
generation of first-in-class, tetravalent, multi-specific immune
cell engagers. Based on its modularity, ROCK® allows for antibody
engineering of highly customizable NK and T cell engagers to
generate clinical candidates tailored to multiple disease
indications and settings, including generation of molecules against
validated oncology targets to address the limitations of existing
treatments of hematologic and solid tumors.
About Affimed N.V.
Affimed (Nasdaq: AFMD) engineers targeted
immunotherapies, seeking to cure patients by harnessing the power
of innate and adaptive immunity (NK and T cells). We are developing
single and combination therapies to treat cancers and other
life-threatening diseases. For more information, please visit
www.affimed.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis press release contains
forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of
historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are often
indicated by terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could,"
"estimate," "expect," "goal," "intend," "look forward to", "may,"
"plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will,"
"would" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements appear
in a number of places throughout this release and include
statements regarding our intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook,
analyses and current expectations concerning, among other things,
the value of our ROCK® platform, our ongoing and planned
preclinical development and clinical trials, our collaborations and
development of our products in combination with other therapies,
the timing of and our ability to make regulatory filings and obtain
and maintain regulatory approvals for our product candidates, our
intellectual property position, our collaboration activities, our
ability to develop commercial functions, expectations regarding
clinical trial data, our results of operations, cash needs,
financial condition, liquidity, prospects, future transactions,
growth and strategies, the industry in which we operate, the trends
that may affect the industry or us and the risks, uncertainties and
other factors described under the heading "Risk Factors" in
Affimed's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Given these risks, uncertainties and other factors, you should not
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, and we
assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements,
even if new information becomes available in the future.
Affimed Investor Contact:Gregory Gin,
Head of Investor RelationsE-Mail: IR@affimed.com
Affimed Media Contact:Anca Alexandru,
Head of Communications, EU IRE-Mail: media@affimed.com
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