Affimed to end cancer program and focus on innate immunity portfolio, shares slide about 10%
AFMD
Clinical stage biotech Affimed N.V. AFMD, -2.13% said Wednesday it is terminating its phase I program for AFM11 to focus on its innate immunity portfolio. The company had put two clinical trials of the cancer treatment on hold back in October after one patient died and two others experienced life-threatening events in the high-dose group. The trials were testing the drug in patients with types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Heidelberg, Germany-based Affimed said it will start a study of AFM13 this year and enter the clinic with AFM24. ""We strongly believe our innate cell engagers could enhance current immuno-oncology approaches and address unmet patient needs in treating hematologic and solid tumor malignancies," Chief Executive Dr. Adi Hoess said in a statement. "We have determined that the optimal use of our resources at this time is to advance our innate cell engagers, focusing their development on indications with high unmet need and the potential for a rapid path to regulatory approval." The company's Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Martin Treder is stepping down to pursue new opportunities, but will remain as a consultant to the company. Affimed has received a milestone payment from Genentech, owned by Roche Group, triggered by the achievement of a milestone that was part of a research deal with Genentech to develop natural killer (NK) cell engager-based immunotherapeutics based on Affimed's ROCK(R) platform to treat multiple cancers. The company said it believes its 108.8 million euros of cash on hand is enough to fund its activities into 2021. Shares fell 9.6% premarket, but have gained 6.88.6% in 2019, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.72% has gained 14.3%.