Artiva Biotherapeutics and Affimed Announce Platform-to-Platform R&D Collaboration for Targeted Off-the-Shelf NK Cell Therapies

 

• Exclusive collaboration to assess feasibility and activity of pre-manufactured, co-vialed, cryopreserved, off-the-shelf NK cell combination therapeutics targeting EGFR and additional targets
• Proof of concept, preclinical assessment to establish activity and feasibility of the combination of Artiva’s allogeneic natural killer (NK) cells and Affimed’s innate cell engagers (ICE)

San Diego and Heidelberg, Germany, November 5, 2020 -- Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc., and Affimed N.V. (NASDAQ: AFMD), both immuno-oncology companies focused on developing and commercializing therapies utilizing the innate immune system, announced today that they have entered into an exclusive collaboration agreement to assess combining elements of their respective platforms in the generation of targeted, off-the-shelf allogeneic NK cell therapies.

The R&D collaboration will assess the feasibility and preclinical activity of combinations of Artiva’s allogeneic NK cell product AB-101 and Affimed’s ICE molecules, building on earlier preclinical studies demonstrating synergistic cytotoxic activity. Under the agreement, Affimed’s ICE molecules targeting EGFR and other undisclosed targets will be combined with Artiva’s GMP-grade allogeneic NK cells during the cell manufacturing process. The pre-manufacturing process will include the loading of AB-101 with Affimed ICE molecules prior to cryopreservation, creating specifically targeted allogeneic cells without the requirement for viral transduction. The resulting cryopreserved, off-the-shelf, targeted allogeneic NK cell products will be assessed for anti-tumor activity and development potential. The costs of manufacturing and preclinical assessments will be shared by both companies. The agreement provides for potential further development of selected combination products.

“The combination of Artiva’s highly scaled, optimized NK-cell manufacturing platform with Affimed’s tumor-targeting ICE molecules has the potential for an efficient and flexible therapeutic combination product platform, and preclinical assessments have already demonstrated the potential of this approach,” said Tom Farrell, President and CEO of Artiva. “Our NK cells are activated during the manufacturing process resulting in high and consistent expression of innate tumor engagement receptors, including CD16A, making them the ideal platform to combine with tumor-specific targeting ICE from Affimed’s platform.”