Affimed raises €20M in third round for antibodies

Funding

Affimed Therapeutics AG has announced the successful closing of a €20 million third round.

The money will be used to fund the clinical validation of Affimed's proprietary therapeutic antibody technology and the ongoing development of its pipeline. The lead program, AFM13 for the treatment of Hodgkin's Lymphoma, is expected to start clinical phase I trials in the third quarter of 2010. AFM11 and AFM12, for the treatment of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, are currently in preclinical development and expected to begin phase I studies in 2011.

AFM13 is a bispecific antibody based on the company’s proprietary TandAb technology. In cancer therapy, TandAbs are designed to bind target molecules on the surface of tumour cells and simultaneously activate T-cells or natural killer cells (NK cells).

The round was lead by existing investors Aeris Capital, BioMedInvest, LSP Life Sciences Partners, Novo Nordisk A/S and Orbimed. Rolf Günther, CEO of Affimed, said the money will allow the company to generate important clinical data in the two lead programmes. “This financing will also provide us with an excellent basis to support further development of our therapeutic pipeline and strengthen our position in partnering discussions.”