Affitech

Press Releases | Affitech Events | Publications

NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Norway, May 06, 2008

Affitech announces achievement of significant milestone in antibody discovery collaboration

Fully human antibody isolated using Affitech’s unique methods shows excellent in vitro and in vivo functionality

OSLO - Norway, May 06, 2008 Affitech AS, the human antibody therapeutics company announced today another successfully completed milestone in its long-term antibody discovery partnership with Peregrine Pharmaceuticals. At the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Peregrine presented preclinical studies demonstrating that PGN635, a fully human antibody discovered as part of their collaboration, exhibits anti tumor efficacy by targeting phosphatidylserine (PS). Peregrine currently has an anti-PS antibody, bavituximab, that is in phase II clinical trials for the treatment of breast and lung cancers and in a phase I study for the treatment of chronic HCV infection.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Norway, April 15, 2008

Affitech participates in the newly formed Norwegian stem cell- based tumour therapy center

CBAS™ platform key to rapid biomarker discovery

OSLO - Norway, April 15, 2008 The human antibody company, Affitech AS, the Norwegian human antibody therapeutics company, announced today its membership in the newly inaugurated Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Based Tumor Therapy (CAST). In the frame of this participation, Affitech will use its proprietary CBAS™ (Cell Based Antibody Selection) platform to identify molecules of clinical interest. CBAS™ is a reverse screening approach which utilizes both patient-derived and naïve antibody libraries to rapidly generate fully human antibodies and their cognate antigens when present in their natural setup.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Norway, February 13, 2008

Affitech Appoints Sergej Kiprijanov New Head of Research

Appointment strengthens Company for future development of human antibody discovery technology and product candidates

OSLO - Norway, February 13, 2008 The human antibody company, Affitech AS, announced today the appointment of Dr. Sergej Kiprijanov as the Vice President of Discovery Research and Preclinical Development. Joining Affitech at a key stage in the company's growth, Dr Kiprijanov brings a wealth of experience in the antibody therapeutic field. Previously CSO of Novoplant GmbH, a German plant biotech company developing antibodies for oral applications, Dr. Kiprijanov was also Head of Research with Affimed Therapeutics AG in Heidelberg, Germany, focusing on engineering human antibodies and antibody fragments for cancer indications.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Norway, November 19, 2007

Affitech-identified fully human anti-VEGF antibody candidate is as effective as Avastin® in preclinical cancer models

Positive preclinical results reported by Peregrine Pharmaceuticals represent an important accomplishment for Affitech and validate its antibody discovery technologies

OSLO - Norway, November 19, 2007 - Affitech AS, the human antibody therapeutics company announced today that its partner, Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, has reported that its anti-VEGF antibody R84, an antibody identified by Affitech, selectively blocks the interaction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2); and is as effective as Avastin® (bevacizumab) in inhibiting growth of established tumors in a preclinical breast cancer model. Results were presented at IBC's 5^th Annual International Anti-Angiogenesis Conference in Boston on November 12, 2007.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Norway, May 16, 2007

Affitech Appoints New Board Member

Direvo Chief Executive Dr. Thomas von Rüden joins Affitech Supervisory Board

OSLO - Norway, May 16, 2007 - The human antibody company, Affitech AS, announced today the appointment of Dr. Thomas von Rüden, currently the Chief Executive Officer of Cologne, Germany-based Direvo Biotech AG as a Member of its Supervisory Board.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Norway, May 7, 2007

Affitech signs antibody research and licensing agreement with Roche

OSLO - May 7, 2007 - Affitech AS, the Norwegian human antibody therapeutics company, today announced that they have signed a research and licensing agreement with Roche to produce fully human monoclonal antibodies against an unnamed oncology target. The agreement tasks Affitech with first using their proprietary phagemid library, high throughput screening technology and antibody engineering platforms to identify candidate antibodies which Roche would then utilize for further development and commercialization. The financial terms of the collaboration include research fees, milestone payments and royalties on net sales upon commercialization of any product.

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NEWS RELEASE
OSLO, NORWAY - May 2nd, 2007

Affitech moves to further strengthen human antibody Intellectual Property position

Breitling patent portfolio occupies key position in growing antibody market

OSLO, NORWAY - May 2nd, 2007 The human antibody company, Affitech AS, announced today that it has further strengthened its intellectual property (IP) position in the human antibody discovery area through a series of IP cross-licensing and in-licensing deals. The Company's primary antibody library display patents are known as "Breitling" IP. Originating from the DKFZ (German Cancer Research Center) of Heidelberg, Germany, the Breitling patents cover the use of full-length pIII phage protein as a scaffold in a phagemid vector, and are one of the fundamental group of patents for the phagemid display of antibody, antibody fragments and proteins. Affitech's new deals include exclusive worldwide in licensing of a sublicensable Diabody IP from Pharmexa (Copenhagen, Denmark) and a non-exclusive worldwide sub-licensable research license of single-chain antibodies (SCA) from Micromet (Munich, Germany). These follow previous cross-licenses of Breitling IP with Dyax's (Cambridge, MA) "Ladner" family of phage display technology patents and XOMA's (Berkeley, CA) bacterial cell expression (BCE) technology for developing antibody products

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Norway, April 23, 2007

Positive results using Affitech-identified human antibody that blocks VEGF binding to VEGF receptor 2 in Preclinical cancer model reported by Peregrine

Oslo, Norway, April 23, 2007 Affitech AS, the human antibody therapeutics company announced today that Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reported positive in vivo test results of R3, a fully human monoclonal antibody developed by Affitech, in a pancreatic cancer model at the recently concluded Centennial Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). R3 has been designed by the two companies for selective blocking of VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) binding to VEGF receptor 2, as opposed to other anti-angiogenic agents which block activity of both VEGF receptors.

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NEWS RELEASE
Berlin and Oslo, April 11, 2007

Affitech contracts with ProBioGen for producer cell line generation for oncology antibody candidate

Berlin and Oslo, April 11, 2007. - ProBioGen AG, and Affitech AS, jointly announced today that they have entered into an agreement for a biopharmaceutical cell line to be developed by ProBioGen for high-level production of one of the lead candidates in Affitech's oncology therapeutic antibody pipeline.

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NEWS RELEASE
Copenhagen, Denmark and Oslo, Norway, April 03, 2007

Pharmexa and Affitech enter into an exclusive license agreement to promote Diabody technology

Copenhagen, Denmark and Oslo, Norway, April 03, 2007 Pharmexa A/S, a leading Danish immunotherapeutic and vaccine company, and Affitech AS, a Norwegian company specializing in human therapeutic monoclonal antibody discovery and development, have entered into a license agreement to promote a single chain bi-specific antibody (diabody) technology to third parties for further product development, as well as to utilize the technology for Affitech's own research.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo,Norway March 28, 2007

AFFITECH SIGNS LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR SINGLE-CHAIN ANTIBODY TECHNOLOGY WITH MICROMET

Oslo, March 28, 2007 Affitech AS, the privately held Norwegian biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of therapeutic human monoclonal antibodies, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Micromet AG, a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, proprietary antibody-based products for cancer, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases for a non-exclusive worldwide sub-licensable research license to the joint patent estate of Micromet and Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in the field of single-chain antibodies (SCA).

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo,Norway nov 06, 2006

AFFITECH STRENGTHENS MANAGEMENT AS LEAD ONCOLOGY ANTIBODIES ENTER DEVELOPMENT PHASE

Oslo, Nov 06, 2006 Affitech today announced at BIO-Europe that it is strengthening its management team with the recruitment of Hans Petter Tjeldflaat as the new Director of Finance, and the assignment of Dr Rathin Das as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and CBO.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Sept 12, 2006

AFFITECH TO PLAY KEY ROLE IN MAJOR EU EMBRYONAL TUMOR PIPELINE PROJECT

Proprietary discovery platforms to be utilized to identify fully human therapeutic antibody candidates

Oslo, Sept 12, 2006 Affitech today announced that it has been selected to participate in the new European Union E.E.T. Pipeline project to identify fully human therapeutic antibody candidates for Embryonal Tumors (ET) by using its unique antibody discovery platform.

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NEWS RELEASE
Chicago, April 9, 2006

Affitech renews exclusive worldwide phage display license from DKFZ.

"Breitling" patents hold key position in human antibody discovery field.

Chicago, April 9, 2006 The human antibody company, Affitech AS, announced today at BIO 2006 that they have renewed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with DKFZ (German Cancer Research Center) of Heidelberg, Germany for the antibody library display patents, otherwise known as "Breitling" IP family.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Norway, April 9, 2006

Affitech raises NOK 86 million ($ 13 million) in private placement

Fund supports pre-clinical and clinical development of lead oncology candidates

Oslo, Norway, April 9, 2006 The human antibody company, Affitech AS announced today that it has raised a further NOK 86 million ($13 million) in a new private placement. The company will use the cash to carry out pre-clinical development of its several in-house discovered oncology antibody therapeutic candidates and to accelerate selection of some of the candidates for clinical studies.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Norway and Berkeley, CA November 29, 2005

AFFITECH and XOMA Sign Antibody Collaboration
and Cross-License Agreement

Oslo, Norway and Berkeley, CA November 29, 2005 Affitech AS and XOMA Ltd. (Nasdaq:XOMA) announced today that they have signed an antibody collaboration and cross-license agreement for antibody-related technologies.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo May 31, 2005

Affitech AS grants Protein L licence

Company positioned to expand into major antibody separation market

OSLO, Norway, May 31, 2005 Affitech AS announced today at the 4th International Congress on Recombinant Antibodies, in Berlin, Germany, that it has granted its first license for production and use of Protein L to a UK-based biotechnology company.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo May 18, 2005

Affitech AS in-licenses human oncology antibodies.

C.B.A.S-based simultaneous target/antibody discovery technology accelerates company’s proprietary product development plans.

OSLO, Norway, May 18, 2005 – Affitech AS announced today that they have signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the Research Foundation of the Norwegian Radium Hospital for two promising new cancer-specific human antibodies discovered using the company’s revolutionary CBAS (Cell-Based Antibody Selection) technology.

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NEWS RELEASE
TUSTIN, CA, and OSLO, Norway, February 14, 2005

Affitech AS Completes Milestone for Peregrine Pharmaceuticals

Human 2C3 Equivalents Presented at Conference

TUSTIN, CA, and OSLO, Norway, and February 14, 2005 – Affitech AS announced today that they have achieved an important milestone for Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM).

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NEWS RELEASE
Toronto, Canada and Oslo, Norway, Feb 02. 2005

AFFITECH AND VIVENTIA BIOTECH ANNOUNCE CANCER RESEARCH MILESTONE ACHIEVEMENTS

Toronto, Canada and Oslo, Norway-February 02, 2005 - Viventia Biotech, Inc., of Toronto, Canada and Affitech AS of Oslo, Norway, announced today that they have achieved the first two research milestones in their research collaboration.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Norway, Nov 29th. 2004

DYAX AND AFFITECH SIGN PHAGE DISPLAY CROSS-LICENSING AGREEMENT

OSLO, Norway-November 29, 2004 -Affitech AS announced today that the Company has entered into a cross-licensing agreement with Dyax Corp. of Cambridge, Massachusetts for phage display technologies involving Affitech's "Breitling" and Dyax's "Ladner" family of patents. Financial terms were not disclosed.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Nov 8th. 2004

PEREGRINE PHARMACEUTICALS AND AFFITECH AS EXPAND COLLABORATION TO DEVELOP UP TO SIX NEW FULLY HUMAN ANTIBODIES

Six New Targets Planned For Oncology And Viral Indications

TUSTIN, CA, and OSLO, NORWAY - November 8, 2004 - Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM) and Affitech AS today announced that they have expanded their antibody collaboration to include the production of fully human monoclonal antibodies against up to six additional targets.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Nov 8th. 2004

AFFITECH MAKES MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH WITH PIONEERING CBAS TECHNOLOGY

Simultaneous antibody/target discovery now possible for disease areas of unmet medical needs, especially in cancer

Oslo, Norway, November 8. 2004 Affitech AS, the human antibody discovery and development company, today launched a revolutionary technology at BioEurope 2004 that promises to dramatically cut the time needed to discover new antibody drugs and their cognate target antigens. Called CBAS (Cell-Based Antibody Selection), the technology takes an innovative approach of screening diseased cells or cell lines against functionally expressed antibody libraries resulting in simultaneous identification of cell-bound antibodies and their associated antigens.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, June 25th. 2004

AFFITECH AS AND PEREGRINE PHARMACEUTICALS ANNOUNCE RESEARCH MILESTONE ACHIEVEMENT BY AFFITECH

TUSTIN, CA, and OSLO, NORWAY - June 24, 2004 - Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM) and Affitech AS today announced that they have achieved the first research milestone in one of their research collaborations. The milestone involved the identification of an initial panel of fully human antibodies that bind to the blood vessel growth factor Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) with a defined specificity. As part of the collaboration, Affitech will further optimize the panel of antibodies using its proprietary discovery and selection systems. The antibodies are intended to be used in Peregrine's Vascular Targeting Agent (VTA) and anti-angiogenesis programs.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, June 08th. 2004

Affitech Announces Unveiling of its Cell-Based Antibody Selection (CBAS) System

Integrated approach for simultaneous discovery of human antibodies and cognate targets will have immediate impact especially in oncology sector

June 08th, 2004, Oslo, Norway Affitech AS, the human antibody discovery and development company, announced today at the BIO 2004 conference in San Francisco, CA, the establishment of the CBAS technology, which is an integrated functional cell-based screening approach for simultaneous discovery of human antibodies and cognate targets. Using the CBAS protocol Affitech has demonstrated in a rapid and sensitive manner repeated success in the identification of tumor-specific antibodies. These antibodies are functionally relevant to diseased cell-specific but yet unknown targets of potential diagnostic and /or therapeutic significance.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, June 07th. 2004

Affitech AS raises NOK 30 Million in Private Placement

June 07th, 2004, Oslo, Norway Affitech AS, the human antibody discovery and development company, announced today the completion of its fourth private placement, raising an additional NOK 30 million. The placement enables the Company to continue its current course to push the discovery and development of human therapeutic antibody products and to further strengthen its cutting edge and proprietary technology platforms. The private placement included existing shareholders Teknoinvest,Ferd Venture and Four Seasons Venture, as well as the new investor Braganza AS.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, February 16th. 2004

Affitech and The Norwegian Radium Hospital receive FUGE grant to develop new anti-cancer agents.

NOK 6.2 million awarded to continue the ongoing collaborative research

February 16th, 2004, Oslo, Norway Affitech AS, the human antibody discovery and development company, and the Norwegian Radium Hospital announced today the award of NOK 6.2 million from FUGE (the Norwegian national FUnctional GEnomics program) to carry out research on the development of new cancer therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics. The award will fund the continuation of the collaborative research the Company and the Hospital have been carrying out for the past several years.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, July 14th. 2003

HUMAN ANTIBODY SPECIALIST AFFITECH RESTRUCTURES ITS MANAGEMENT TEAM

Ole Marvik steps up to the Board, Martin Welschof takes over as CEO

July 14th, 2003, Oslo, Norway Following the successful completion of three major deals in the first half of the year, Affitech has restructured its senior management team. Founder and CEO, Dr Ole Jørgen Marvik moves up to become a full Board Member with an active corporate advisory role, while the COO, Dr Martin Welschof takes over as CEO.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, June 23rd. 2003

AFFITECH AND VIVENTIA FORM COLLABORATION TO IDENTIFY AND SELECT NOVEL TARGETS AND THERAPEUTIC ANTIBODIES

June 23, 2003, Toronto, Canada and Oslo, Norway – Viventia Biotech, Inc., of Toronto, Canada and Affitech AS of Oslo, Norway, today announced that they have entered into a research collaboration to identify novel antigens on various cancer cells and to select antibodies targeting those antigens for subsequent development as potential therapeutics.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, June 17th. 2003

AFFITECH AND PEREGRINE TO COLLBORATE ON DEVELOPING FULLY HUMAN VASCULAR TARGETING AGENT ANTIBODIES

TUSTIN, CA, and OSLO, NORWAY - June 17, 2003 - Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc (Nasdaq: PPHM) and Affitech AS today announced that they will collaborate on the production of human antibodies for Peregrine’s Vascular Targeting Agent (VTA) and anti-angiogenesis programs.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Apr 9th. 2003

AFFITECH AND NATIMMUNE FORM PARTNERSHIP IN COLON CANCER

Fully human antibodies to be generated against validated targets

April 9, 2003, Copenhagen, Denmark / Oslo, Norway –AFFITECH AS, Oslo, Norway, and NATIMMUNE AS, Copenhagen, Denmark, announced today the formation of a partnership in the colon cancer area. The collaboration aims to develop several antibody drug leads being generated by Affitech for therapy and in vivo diagnostics, against a clinically validated target proprietary to NatImmune.

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NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, Aug 19th. 2002

AFFITECH COMPLETES SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM

NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, May 16th. 2002

AFFITECH FILES PATENT APPLICATION ON DIRECT SCREENING FOR ANTIBODIES FROM PATIENT-BASED LIBRARIES

NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, April 11th. 2002

PROMISING RESULTS FROM TROYBODIES™ VACCINE STUDY

NEWS RELEASE
Oslo, December 3rd. 2001

AFFITECH ESTABLISHES SUBSIDIARY IN THE USA