HEIDELBERG, Germany, Jan. 20, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Affimed N.V. (Nasdaq: AFMD), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted cancer immunotherapies today announced the appointment of Dr. Martin Treder as Chief Scientific Officer, effective January 1, 2015. Dr. Treder will lead Affimed's ongoing efforts to further develop and utilize its proprietary bi- and trispecific TandAb platforms for the expansion of its internal pipeline and will provide scientific support for its clinical programs and for collaborations with corporate partners. Dr. Treder joins Affimed from CT Atlantic AG, a Swiss biotechnology company focused on the identification and development of human-derived monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer. Dr. Eugene Zhukovsky, who had been Affimed's Chief Scientific Officer since 2011, has left the company as of the end of 2014 to pursue other interests.
"Martin is a strong leader with broad experience in immuno-oncology discovery and pre-clinical development of antibodies, with a track record of successfully initiating and executing collaborations," said Dr. Adi Hoess, Affimed's Chief Executive Officer. "Adding Martin's expertise will further strengthen our leadership position in NK- and T-cell engagement and will continue the successful development of potent and safe immunotherapeutics."
"I am honored to have the opportunity of leading this talented team of researchers to fulfill the promise inherent in Affimed's technologies to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines to cancer patients," commented Dr. Treder. "Affimed is very well positioned as a leader in immuno-oncology, one of the most promising approaches in cancer therapy."
Dr. Treder has 13 years of professional experience in the field of biotherapeutics research and development. Before joining Affimed, he was Chief Scientific Officer at CT Atlantic AG where he was responsible for establishing a broad research pipeline of various preclinical and clinical development programs. Prior to CT Atlantic, Dr. Treder held the position of Program Director at U3 Pharma AG, a German biotech company developing targeted cancer therapeutics, where he headed the company's portfolio of innovative anti-HER3 therapeutic antibodies. Dr. Treder graduated with Honors from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia and obtained a diploma in Biology at the University of Würzburg, Germany. He earned his PhD working in Prof. Axel Ullrich's group at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried-Munich, receiving his doctorate from the Technical University of Munich, Germany.
About NK-Cell TandAbs, T-Cell TandAbs and Trispecific Abs
Affimed develops TandAbs and Trispecific Abs to substantially increase the efficacy, specificity and/or extend the therapeutic window of current therapeutics. TandAbs and Trispecific Abs are a new generation of proprietary, tumor-cell engaging antibodies with a tetravalent architecture characterized by four binding domains. These tetravalent molecules bind to tumor and immune cells with high affinity. Although generation of such complex antibodies is very challenging, Affimed has succeeded in producing them economically and at high quality.
Leveraging this expertise, Affimed has implemented three platform technologies:
- Bispecific TandAbs engaging NK-cells (via CD16A)
- Bispecific TandAbs engaging T-cells (via CD3)
- Trispecific Abs engaging either NK- or T- cells
Affimed's TandAbs have already demonstrated promising signs of therapeutic activity in patients and Affimed has established robust and efficient production processes for these highly stable molecules in mammalian cell systems. Affimed's Trispecific Abs, which target two distinct tumor epitopes and engage T- or NK-cells to lyse the tumor cells that express both targets, are validated preclinically.
About Affimed N.V.
Affimed is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing highly targeted cancer immunotherapies. Affimed's product candidates are being developed in the field of immuno-oncology, which represents an innovative approach to cancer treatment that seeks to harness the body's own immune defenses to fight tumor cells. The most potent cells of the human defense arsenal are types of white blood cells called Natural Killer cells, or NK-cells, and T-cells. Affimed's proprietary, next-generation bispecific antibodies, called TandAbs for their tandem antibody structure, are designed to direct and establish a bridge between either NK-cells or T-cells and cancer cells, triggering a signal cascade that leads to the destruction of cancer cells. Affimed has focused its research and development efforts on three proprietary TandAb programs for which it retains global commercial rights. For more information, please visit www.affimed.com .
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
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 are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information available to management only as of the date of this press release. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the risk of cessation or delay of any of the ongoing or planned clinical studies and/or development of our product candidates. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements for many reasons, including, without limitation, risks associated with our clinical development activities, regulatory oversight, product commercialization, intellectual property claims, and the risks, uncertainties and other factors described under the heading "Risk Factors" in Affimed's prospectus dated September 12, 2014 filed 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.
Contact:
Affimed N.V.
Adi Hoess, CEO
Phone: +49 6221 65307-0
E-Mail: IR@affimed.com
Media requests:
Anca Alexandru or Gretchen Schweitzer
MacDougall Biomedical Communications
Phone: +49 89 2424 3494 or
+49 163 613 3359
E-Mail: aalexandru@macbiocom.com
HUG#1888061
