Affimed says 86% of patients responded to lymphoma therapy in mid-stage trial

Shares of Affimed (NASDAQ:AFMD) gained in the premarket on Wednesday after the German biotech said about 86% of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma who were part of a Phase 2 trial responded to its blood cancer therapy, AFM13, as a combination regimen.

Based on initial data from the company’s LuminICE-203 trial, Affimed (AFMD) said six out of seven patients responded to the treatment combo, indicating an 85.7% overall response rate (ORR), including four complete responses (CR).

LuminICE-203 was designed to evaluate AFM13, an innate cell engager, with Artiva Biotherapeutics’ allogeneic NK cell therapy AlloNK (AB-101) in previously treated patients (treatment-refractory) with Hodgkin lymphoma.

As for safety, the company said one patient with an acute cytomegalovirus infection developed a cytokine release syndrome (CRS) with Grade 3 severity for a short duration. However, all side effects were manageable, and there were no treatment discontinuations, Affimed (AFMD) added.

“These data validate our approach of co-administration of ICE® molecules with allogeneic, off-the-shelf, cryopreserved NK cells,” said Andreas Harstrick, Affimed’s (AFMD) medical chief and acting CEO.

The company disclosed the results alongside its Q1 2024 financials.