Affimed Presents Data on Potency of NK- and T-cell EGFRvIII TandAbs at SITC

Affimed N.V.

yesterday presented first data on the Company's proprietary NK- and T-cell TandAbs generated against the tumor-specific variant III of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFRvIII), at the annual Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) conference in National Harbor, Maryland. Results showed that the Company's TandAbs against EGFRvIII, AFM21 (T-cell-engager targeting EGFRvIII and CD3) and AFM22 (NK-cell-engager targeting EGFRvIII and CD16A) were similarly potent as measured in killing assays, displaying cytotoxicity towards EGFRvIII+ F98 glioma, transfected CHO or human DKMG cells with an EC50 in the range of 1 pM – 10 pM. No cytotoxicity was observed on EGFR wild type cells or EGFRvIII-negative cells, demonstrating the high selectivity of EGFRvIII TandAbs for the tumor-specific EGFRvIII variant. Importantly, in vitro, in the absence of EGFRvIII+ target cells, TandAbs did not elicit NK- or T-cell activation, as demonstrated by their lack of proliferation. Both the NK- and T-cell TandAbs against EGFRvIII will be further investigated for candidate selection, which Affimed anticipates to take place around year-end 2015. IND-enabling studies are expected to begin in 2016. "EGFRvIII is a highly specific target for a variety