Heidelberg, Germany, July 15th, 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
Dr Adi Hoess (CEO)
Tel.: + 49 6221 65307 64
Fax: + 49 6221 65307 77
n.ubrff@nssvzrq.pbz
MC Services AG
Anne Hennecke
Tel.: +49 89 210 228 18
Fax: +49 89 210 228 88
naar.uraarpxr@zp-freivprf.rh
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.
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