Amphivena, a Subsidiary of Affimed AG, Completes $14 Million Equity Financing and Signs Agreement with Janssen
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Affimed Therapeutics AG /
Amphivena, a Subsidiary of Affimed AG, Completes $14 Million Equity Financing
and Signs Agreement with Janssen
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Heidelberg, Germany, July 15(th), 2013: Affimed Therapeutics AG, the therapeutic
TandAb antibody company, announced today that its subsidiary Amphivena
Therapeutics Inc., a drug discovery company developing bispecific TandAb
antibodies to treat hematological tumors, has successfully completed a $14
million Series A equity financing.
The Series A financing was led by MPM Capital, with participation from Aeris
Capital and Affimed AG. Amphivena will use the proceeds for the pre-clinical
development of a novel therapy for a hematological disorder based on Affimed's
proprietary TandAb antibody technology.
Separately, in addition to the Series A financing, working with the London
Innovation Centre of Johnson & Johnson Innovation and the Oncology Therapeutic
Area within Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Amphivena has entered into an
agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc. (Janssen) that grants Janssen the exclusive
right, at Janssen's discretion, to acquire Amphivena following IND approval upon
pre-negotiated terms and conditions set forth in the agreement. Janssen will
provide Amphivena with an initial upfront payment plus additional contingent
payments based on reaching predetermined milestones in return for its rights
under the agreement.
Affimed AG has entered into a license and development agreement with Amphivena
to support the discovery and pre-clinical development of the novel TandAb based
therapy.
Dr. Luke Evnin, Managing Director of MPM Capital; Phil Gutry, Principal at MPM
Capital; Dr. Frank Mühlenbeck, Partner at Aeris Capital; and Dr. Adi Hoess, CEO
of Affimed AG; will each join Amphivena's Board of Directors.
"Affimed's TandAb platform shows significant promise in addressing this critical
patient need," said Dr. Luke Evnin of MPM Capital. "We are excited to partner
with antibody cancer experts of such caliber."
"Amphivena in collaboration with Affimed AG will develop novel bi-specific
TandAb antibodies to improve the existing therapy for a specific hematological
malignancy," said Adi Hoess, CEO of Affimed AG. "We are excited that MPM and
Aeris Capital have partnered with us to support the development of a novel agent
and are pleased to enter into this relationship with Janssen."
For further information please contact:
Affimed Therapeutics AG MC Services AG
Dr Adi Hoess (CEO) Anne Hennecke
Tel.: + 49 6221 65307 64 Tel.: +49 89 210 228 18
Fax: + 49 6221 65307 77 Fax: +49 89 210 228 88
a.hoess(at)affimed.com anne.hennecke(at)mc-services.eu
About Affimed:
Affimed Therapeutics AG is a therapeutic antibody company developing unique
therapeutics as novel treatments for life threatening diseases with high unmet
medical needs. The company has generated a growing pipeline of drug candidates
based on its proprietary TandAb® antibody platform. Affimed's lead product
candidate AFM13 for the treatment of Hodgkin's disease is in Phase I clinical
development. Its second product candidate AFM11 is in formal preclinical
development for the treatment of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Further novel product
candidates are in development to treat solid tumors and autoimmune diseases.
Affimed's proprietary and highly productive TandAb® technology enables the
company to generate unique tetravalent, bispecific, fully human antibody formats
that promise increased therapeutic potential and superior profiles compared to
monoclonal antibodies. The private company Affimed, which employs 30 people in
Heidelberg, is a spin-off from the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ),
Heidelberg.
About Amphivena:
Amphivena Therapeutics Inc., Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A., is a subsidiary of
Affimed and was founded in December 2012. Amphivena will partner with Affimed to
discover and develop a bispecific TandAb in a hematologic indication.
About TandAbs®:
TandAbs®, which were invented and developed by Affimed scientists, are
tetravalent bispecific antibody formats that have two binding sites for each
antigen. RECRUIT-TandAbs®, such as AFM13 and AFM11, bind to target molecules on
the surface of tumor cells (CD30 and CD19, respectively) and can activate immune
effector cells such as natural killer (NK) cells or cytotoxic T-cells. RECRUIT-
TandAbs® possess the same avidity and affinity for each target as an IgG;
however, the much higher potency of TandAbs® versus IgG is achieved by a more
efficient binding to the immune effector cells. Combined with their
bispecificity, this format represents a potent further development of
therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and, potentially, a superior alternative to
first generation antibody formats/scaffolds. A robust production process for
TandAbs has been established with excellent yields and stability of the drug
product.
Affimed has developed different kinds of TandAbs® for specific indications.
While RECRUIT-TandAbs® are applied to oncology, BiBLOCK- and PROLONG-TandAbs®
are developed for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
About MPM Capital
MPM Capital is one of the world's largest life science-dedicated venture
investors. With committed capital under management in excess of $2.6 billion,
MPM Capital is uniquely structured to invest globally in healthcare innovation.
Press release (PDF):
http://hugin.info/142251/R/1716250/570473.pdf
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originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Affimed Therapeutics AG via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1716250]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 15.07.2013 - 09:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 278174
Anzahl Zeichen: 6832
contact information:
Town:
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Kategorie:
Business News
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