Affimed's anticoagulant antibody is an anti-GPIIb/IIIa Fab: AFM14. Affimed is the only company that has succeeded in isolating a fully human antibody that specifically recognises the activated form of the GPIIb/IIIa receptors of blood platelets, thereby binding only on activated blood platelets. Due to its higher specificity, Affimed's anti-GPIIb/IIIa is expected to have a lower incidence of side effects such as bleeding as the non-activated thrombocytes are preserved in the body. Lower amounts are also required, since it only binds to the activated platelets and no significant depletion of platelets is expected to occur. An additional advantage of AFM14 is that, due to its origin (from the human antibody library), the new product can be expected to be much safer for repeated applications.
Thrombosis
About 6 million people worldwide suffer acute vascular disorders caused by thromboses each year, such as myocardial infarction, angina pectoris or stroke.In most countries, the prevalence of these thrombotic events will greatly increase within the next ten years as ageing of the population continues resulting in an increasing number of arteriosclerotic diseases. To prevent the formation of thromboses during operations various approaches can be taken: balloon dilations of arteries and stent implantations, small molecular compounds such as aspirin, peptides binding to the GPIIb/IIIa receptor on blood platelets or, preferably, the chimeric antibody Abciximab (ReoPro® that binds more specifically to this receptor. However, due to the relatively long retention time of ReoPro® in the blood, its intrinsic platelet activating activity and its inability to distinguish between the non-activated and activated forms of the receptor, serious complications such as bleeding and excessive platelet depletion can occur.
Preclinical studies
AFM14 recently established preclinical proof of concept in an in vivo model of thrombosis. The preclinical studies demonstrated that the antithrombotic effect is comparable to the clinically used conformation-unspecific GPIIb/GPIIIa blockers tirofiban and eptifibatide. However, in clear contrast to these blockers, Affimed's antibody did not prolong bleeding times. This antibody thus represents a novel future approach for antiplatelet therapy.
Licensing
Affimed is currently actively seeking a partner to further develop and commercialize AFM14.