The fundamental element of Affimed’s corporate governance is its two-tier system with a separation of Management Board, responsible for the management of the Company and the general conduct of the Company’s business, and the Supervisory Board to supervise the policy pursued by the Management Board and the general oversight of the Company and its business.
The Supervisory Board has established two Supervisory Board Committees: Audit Committee; Compensation, Nomination & Corporate Governance Committee
Management Board
Supervisory Board
Supervisory Board Composition
| Name | Date of initial appointment | End of current term |
Audit Committee | Compensation, Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Thomas Hecht | September 2014 | 2026 | M | |
| Dr. Annalisa Jenkins | August 2020 | 2026 | C | |
| Dr. Bernhard Ehmer | December 2016 | 2025 | M | |
| Dr. Constanze Ulmer-Eilfort | June 2023 | 2026 | C |
C: Chair, M: Member.
For our company, compliance, integrity and legal responsibility are inseparable from our daily business activities.
Affimed’s Management Board and Supervisory Board are convinced that compliance with applicable laws, internal regulations, and Affimed’s high ethical standards are a prerequisite for sustainable business success.
By its Compliance program and Compliance communication, but even more by demonstrating compliant and ethical behavior in the day-to-day business, Affimed and its Employees continuously foster and improve our compliance culture and ensure that compliance and ethics are an integral part of what makes Affimed special.
The objective of our Compliance Management System is to promote compliance with laws and policies within Affimed and to prevent inappropriate and unethical behavior.
To support its commitment to compliance and highest ethical standards, Affimed has put in place a Compliance organization, including a cross-functional Compliance Committee, responsible for ensuring that Affimed conducts its operations and activities in compliance with all legal requirements and the highest level of integrity.
The continuous assessment of the compliance risks to which Affimed is exposed, is an essential starting point for our Compliance program. Only a good understanding of these risks allows Affimed to mitigate them effectively and efficiently. The result of the risk assessment serves as the basis for the further development of Affimed’s Compliance program.
Based on its compliance goals and risks, we have designed principles and measures to minimize the risk of compliance violations and their potential detrimental effects. The main focal areas of our compliance measures include, among others, our Integrity Line and integrity checks on new and existing business partners (Third Party Due Diligence).
To become effective, a Compliance program needs communication and training. We inform all employees and, where appropriate, business partners about Affimed’s internal rules, duties, responsibilities, reporting channels, and the Compliance organization. Moreover, we offer a variety of training measures to make our employees worldwide aware of the importance of compliance.
An essential element of Affimed’s CMS is the constant monitoring and improvement of the CMS, in particular with respect to findings from the risk assessment and any investigations.
Violations of laws, regulations and policies and other Compliance concerns can cause massive financial losses, involving the risk of fines, damage our reputation and result in permits not being granted. For these reasons, violations must be detected in a timely manner. By investigating concrete indications of wrongdoing, we can protect Affimed and its employees to avoid similar issues in the future.
At Affimed, everyone is encouraged to speak up and report concerns regarding non-compliance or non-ethical conduct. Reports are treated in strict confidentiality and can be made in person or anonymously. Affimed does not tolerate retaliation against any Employee who reports concerns in good faith either internally, to any governmental agency or to any self-regulatory organization. Reports are to be addressed to:
Susanne Spieler
SVP General Counsel & Compliance Officer
Phone: +49 (0)621 56003-888
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Polya Ivanova
Assistant General Counsel and Head of Environment, Health & Safety (EHS)
Phone: +49 (0)621 56003-888
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In order to ensure compliance at all levels and within all sectors at Affimed, we have instituted the anonymous Integrity Line. Our anonymous Integrity Line is open to employees, business partners of Affimed and all other stakeholders.
Anonymous Integrity Line: https://affimed.integrityline.com/frontpage
Alleged violations may also be reported to proper governmental and regulatory authorities.
For details on speaking-up at Affimed, please see our Speak Up Policy.
Policies and procedures underly our compliance and ethics program. They are reinforced through training and communication, and reviewed and monitored on a regular basis.
We have established a set of Corporate Compliance Policies available to help everyone at Affimed do the right thing and act ethically.
For us, integrity and compliance are the basis for a trustful partnership and cooperation. For this reason we also expect from our business partner to act in an ethical manner.
When selecting our business partners, we make sure that they comply with the laws and follow ethical principles. We also continue to do so over the course of our business relationship. This is why both, our potential and existing business partners, are subject to risk-based integrity checks.
With the Code of Conduct for Business Partner Affimed explains its own ethical principles and the respective expectations of its business partners.