• Treatment with AFM28 innate cell engager (ICE), designed to target CD123-positive cancer cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), led to dose-dependent tumor growth control in a validated in vivo mouse model
  
• AFM28 led to an effective reduction of CD123-expressing AML patient-derived leukemic blasts and stem cells in a newly engineered ex vivo bone marrow niche model

MANNHEIM, Germany, May 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Affimed N.V. (NASDAQ:AFMD), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company committed to giving patients back their innate ability to fight cancer, today announced the publication of an abstract for the annual congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA), taking place in Madrid, Spain, June 13 – 16, 2024. The abstract presents preclinical data of Affimed's CD16A/CD123-targeting ICE, AFM28, in an acute myeloid leukemia (AML) mouse xenograft model and shows that increasing doses of AFM28 lead to a dose-dependent tumor growth control, resulting in an increased median life span of the treated mice compared to controls.

In addition, the abstract shows a data set from a collaboration with Dr. Hind Medyouf's group at the Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Georg-Speyer-Haus, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In a newly engineered ex vivo Human Organotypic Marrow Environment (HOME) model, the combination of AFM28 and allogeneic NK cells can lead to an effective reduction of CD123-expressing AML patient-derived leukemic blasts and stem cells. Importantly, the HOME model exhibits key immune suppressive cellular components, i.e. mesenchymal niche cells, enhancing the translational relevance of AFM28 preclinical activity.