Affimed spins out antibody discovery into a new company, AbCheck

Spin out

The antibody specialist Affimed Therapeutics AG of Heidelberg is to focus efforts on the development of its in-house drug candidates after spinning out its proprietary TandAb antibody discovery technology to a new company, AbCheck s.r.o, based in Plzen, Czech Republic.

Affimed, a spin out of German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), says it will now concentrate on preparing the first clinical study of its lead product, AFM 13 in the treatment of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is expected to begin in the first half of 2010.

AbCheck will specialise in antibody discovery for external biotech and pharma partners. The company will be managed by an experienced team with longstanding expertise in the isolation of antibodies, with Volker Lang, formerly Chief Business Officer at Affimed, taking up the post of Managing Director of AbCheck.

Thomas Hecht, Chairman of Affimed, said, “Affimed is about to enter clinical development with the first, unique TandAb antibodies. With the company’s transition into a clinical development organisation, we feel it is necessary to further focus our business model. At the same time, this transition frees up new potential for the commercialisation of our discovery expertise.”