Press Release - May 29, 2020
Heidelberg, Germany, May 29, 2020 – Affimed N.V. (Nasdaq: AFMD), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company committed to giving patients back their innate ability to fight cancer, today shared details of its AFM13 REDIRECT clinical trial design and rationale at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2020 Annual Meeting, being held in virtual format on May 29-31, 2020.
AFM13 is a first-in-class innate cell engager that induces specific and selective killing of CD30-positive tumor cells by engaging and activating NK cells and macrophages thereby leveraging the power of the innate immune system. As detailed in the poster at ASCO, REDIRECT is a registration-directed trial with AFM13 as monotherapy in patients with relapsed/refractory peripheral T cell lymphoma or transformed mycosis fungoides. The study is actively recruiting.
“We recognize that we target difficult to treat malignancies and we are committed to advancing AFM13 in the clinic for patients who currently have limited treatment options,” said Dr. Andreas Harstrick, Affimed’s Chief Medical Officer. “Having received the U.S. FDA orphan drug designation for AFM13 last month further reinforced our commitment to this area with high unmet medical need and the importance of developing new therapies.”
The REDIRECT poster presented at ASCO is available online at https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/191832/poster.
AFM13 is a first-in-class tetravalent, bispecific innate cell engager that specifically binds to CD30 on tumor cells and to CD16A on NK cells and macrophages. AFM13 is being developed in peripheral T cell lymphoma (pTCL) and in other CD30-positive lymphomas. AFM13 has shown a favorable safety profile and signs of therapeutic efficacy as a monotherapy in CD30-positive non-Hodgkin lymphoma with cutaneous manifestation. In addition, data from a combination study of AFM13 with Merck’s anti-PD-1 antibody Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) supports proof of principle for the combination of NK cell engagement with checkpoint inhibition. AFM13 has been granted orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for HL.
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. The company is currently enrolling patients into a registration-directed study of AFM13 for CD30-positive relapsed/refractory peripheral T cell lymphoma and into a Phase 1/2a dose escalation/expansion study of AFM24 for the treatment of advanced EGFR-expressing solid tumors. For more information, please visit www.affimed.com.
This 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 potential of AFM13 and AFM24, 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, 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, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the benefits to Affimed of orphan drug designation 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.
Alexander Fudukidis, Head of Investor Relations E-Mail: IR@affimed.com