Press Release - January 10, 2020
Heidelberg, Germany, January 10, 2020 – Affimed N.V. (Nasdaq: AFMD), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company committed to giving patients back their innate ability to fight cancer, today announced the appointment of Dr. Andreas Harstrick as Chief Medical Officer, starting in March 2020. In this role, he will oversee Affimed’s first-in-class innate cell engager clinical programs and lead the Company’s efforts to advance clinical-stage assets towards regulatory approvals.
“We are very excited to welcome Dr. Harstrick to our team,” said Dr. Adi Hoess, Affimed’s CEO. “His demonstrated track record of running successful clinical trials that have led to regulatory approvals, deep oncology expertise, combined with his proven ability to collaborate and lead large clinical organizations will be invaluable as we continue to advance the development of our first-in-class innate cell engager therapies.”
Dr. Harstrick brings to Affimed over 30 years of extensive experience in cancer drug development, including strategic leadership of three global phase 3 programs of new biological entities that culminated in global regulatory approvals, and multiple pivotal phase 3 studies. He has successfully designed clinical trials that have led to approval of antibody drugs, including Erbitux® (cetuximab) and Portrazza™ (necitumumab), both which target the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and Cyramza® (ramucirumab), a vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) antagonist.
Most recently, Dr. Harstrick was the Chief Medical Officer at Molecular Partners AG, where he oversaw clinical activities, including expansion of the clinical team, and was a member of the Management Board. At Molecular Partners, he successfully transitioned several preclinical programs to first-in-human studies. In addition, Dr. Harstrick has held several senior executive roles, including Senior Vice President Medical Sciences at ImClone Systems Inc., and following the acquisition of ImClone Systems by Eli Lilly and Company, he served as a member of the Lilly Oncology Program Review Board and Lilly Oncology Business Unit Development Committee. Prior to ImClone and Lilly, Dr. Harstrick was Senior Vice President Global Clinical Development Unit Oncology at Merck Serono.
Dr. Harstrick, an oncologist by training, spent his medical career at the University Hospital and Cancer Center Hannover, Germany; the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo NY; as well as the West German Cancer Center, Essen, Germany. He earned his MD at Medical School Hannover, Germany, and in 1999 he became Associate Professor for Internal Medicine, University of Essen, Germany.
Dr. Harstrick noted, “This is an exciting time at Affimed with the registration-directed study underway for its lead innate cell engager, AFM13, and the expected initiation of the first-in-human study of AFM24, its EGFR- and CD16A-binding innate cell engager, in the first quarter of 2020. I look forward to working with the talented individuals at Affimed and bringing my experience to drive these clinical programs to approval and make these important therapies available to patients with limited treatment options.”
Affimed (Nasdaq: AFMD) is a clinical stage immuno-oncology company committed to giving patients back their innate ability to fight cancer. Affimed’s fit-for-purpose ROCK® platform allows innate cell engagers to be designed for specific patient populations. The Company is developing single and combination therapies to treat hematologic and solid tumors. For more information, please visit www.affimed.com.
Gregory Gin, Head of Investor Relations
E-Mail: IR@affimed.com