Benzinga | Nov 4, 2021 09:28AM EDT

Affimed Announces New Innate Cell Engager AFM28 Targeting CD123 To Treat Acute Myeloid Leukemia

* Derived from Affimed's ROCK(r) platform, AFM28 binds selectively and with high affinity the surface antigens CD123 and CD16A

* AFM28 shows better killing of primary leukemic blasts in comparison to monoclonal antibodies which may lead to enhanced ADCC in patients

* In a preclinical toxicology study AFM28 was safe and well-tolerated and exhibited the expected pharmacodynamic activity

* The high affinity of AFM28 to CD16A is well suited for the combination with allogeneic NK cells

* The AFM28 program is planned to advance to an IND filing in the first half of 2022; a clinical study is expected to begin in the second half of 2022

* The clinical program will investigate AFM28 as treatment designed to address the needs of patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and other CD123+ myeloid malignancies, such as high-risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome (HR-MDS)