AFM12 – Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Affimed´s program AFM12 provides a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of Non-Hodgkin Disease.
AFM12 – Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
| Compound | Target | Indication | Discovery | Preclinical | Phase I | Phase II |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| blue = current development status - green = planned development | ||||||
| AFM12 | CD19xCD16 | Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma | 100% completed | 50 % 100 % | - | - |
Description
The TandAb® antibody, AFM12, is a bispecific, tetravalent human antibody specifically designed to treat Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. AFM12 is a RECRUIT-TandAb® targeting CD19 and CD16A. Pre-clinical data indicate a specific and very effective engagement of NK-cells, inducing fast and strong antibody-dependent, cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC).
Development status
AFM12 is currently in preclinical development.
Non Hodgkin Lymphoma
Hematological malignancies, comprising leukemias, lymphomas, multiple myeloma and myeloplastic syndromes account for roughly 15% of all types of cancer. At least 80% of all lymphomas belong to the NHL group and 30% of all new leukemia cases are of the CLL (chronic lymphatic leukemia) type. Therefore, considering all B-cell lymphoma NHL and CLL subtypes, the total annual incidence in the seven major markets is at least 121,800 cases, forecasted to increase slightly during the next ten years. Current treatments of NHL are in many cases, especially for nonresponding or relapsing patients, not effective enough to increase the patient’s quality of life significantly. The situation is even worse for patients suffering with CLL. This type of leukemia remains incurable when using current treatment options.
AFM12 is developed in parallel with AFM11. AFM12 is a RECRUIT-TandAb® specifically constructed to target CD19 as a tumor target and NK-cells as immune effector cells. Besides the advantage that the CD19 antigen is more widely expressed on tumor cells than the CD20 antigen, Affimed is the only company to date that has isolated a specific antibody against the isoform A of the CD16 receptor. This increases the killing efficacy of this TandAb® enormously. In addition, and unlike existing immunotherapeutics, the Fc-receptor polymorphism of CD16A does not restrict or decrease its efficacy.
Furthermore, research data indicate that there is a synergistic effect produced when using antibodies that recruit T-cells and NK-cells. In vivo experiments clearly demonstrated that the treatment of SCID mice suffering from an established Burkitt´s lymphoma with a combination of bispecific CD19xCD16 and CD19xCD3 recombinant antibodies resulted in the complete elimination of tumors. In contrast, mice receiving treatment with either antibody alone showed only partial tumor regression. These data indicate the synergistic effect of antibodies that recruit different populations of human immune effector cells to the same tumor target. (Kipriyanov et al: Synergistic Antitumor Effect of Bispecific CD19xCD3 and CD19xCD16 Diabodies in a Preclinical Model of Non-Hodgkin´s Lymphoma. J Immunol. 2002; 169 (1): 137-144.
