Affimed to Collaborate with Merck to Evaluate AFM13 in Combination with KEYTRUDA for Patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma

Affimed N.V.

announced today that it has entered into a clinical research collaboration in immuno-oncology with Merck

, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Under the terms of the agreement, Affimed will fund and conduct a Phase 1b clinical trial to investigate the combination of Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), with Affimed's proprietary drug candidate AFM13 for the treatment of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma whose disease has relapsed or is refractory to chemotherapy, including treatment with the marketed antibody-drug-conjugate AdcetrisTM (brentuximab vedotin). Merck will supply Affimed with KEYTRUDA for the clinical trial. The purpose of the study is to establish a dosing regimen for this combination therapy and assess its safety and efficacy. Affimed is on track to initiate the study in the first half of 2016. AFM13 is a bispecific antibody targeting CD30, an antigen specifically expressed in a variety of T- and B-cell lymphomas and targeting CD16A, an antigen expressed on natural killer (NK-) cells, which are important for the activation of the innate immune system and the subsequent killing of