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. Affitech and the Norwegian Radium Hospital (NRH) have collaborated in the development of the CBAS technology, which enables the simultaneous discovery of antibodies and their cognate targets. While Affitech and NRH continue collaboration in additional cancer antibody discovery projects, the signing of the current agreement accelerates Affitech’s transformation from an antibody discovery specialist into a bona fide developer of antibody therapeutics.

The development of CBAS allows Affitech to move beyond its original core phagemid antibody display expertise and to dramatically decrease the time needed to discover new antibody drugs and their cognate target antigens. Developed in conjunction with the Radium Hospital, the technology takes the 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. CBAS is thus a "reverse-screening" approach for antibody-based target discovery, as opposed to the conventional "target first-antibody later" methods. The power and versatility of this approach promises to make CBAS far superior to currently existing antibody discovery platforms.

Commenting on the agreement, Dr. Martin Welschof, Chief Executive Officer of Affitech said, "We are delighted to sign this agreement with our partners at the Radium Hospital. It is exciting that CBAS has proven to be a robust screening platform and already it has generated an interesting pipeline of cancer specific human antibodies of which the first two are undergoing pre-clinical development. This is an important step towards Affitech’s transformation into a therapeutic antibody provider with its own proprietary product pipeline.”

Notes to editors
Affitech AS is a human antibody therapeutics company based in Oslo, Norway, having its US subsidiary in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Company's primary focus is in the discovery and development of human therapeutic antibodies for cancer, infectious and other diseases of unmet medical needs. Affitech's technology portfolio includes its worldwide patents of a phagemid system for antibody and antibody fragments, as well as its proprietary AffiScreeN™ method that utilizes patient-derived antibody repertoires in a high-throughput screening platform. More significantly, Affitech's implementation of the CBAS. system, which is an integrated functional cell-based screening approach for simultaneous discovery of human antibodies and cognate targets, further emphasizes its ongoing focused efforts in "advancing antibody therapeutics". Affitech's business strategy is to generate short-term revenue through customer-based projects and out-licensing of technology assets and early stage products, and in addition to build a proprietary product pipeline through collaborations and partnerships. Affitech has concluded several collaborative deals involving NatImmune, Peregrine and Viventia, and has a patent co-licensing agreement with Dyax. Most recently Affitech and the Norwegian Radium Hospital were awarded 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 Norwegian Radium Hospital and the Research Foundation of the Norwegian Radium Hospital: Norwegian Radium Hospital (NRH) is Norway's only comprehensive cancer center and the largest cancer center in northern Europe. The Research Foundation serves as the office of technology transfer for the NRH by identifying and promoting research projects and innovations with commercial potential. The main goal of the hospital is to be a driving force in prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of cancer, and to provide education and research at the highest international level. The NRH is committed to carrying out intensive research on new cancer treatment methods. A large number of patients at the NRH are participating in various clinical studies. The hospital has a very strong research basis in its integrated Cancer Research Institute, presently involving 300 scientists and technicians. The patient focus is manifested in the highly prioritized translational research program of the hospital, which involves research in the following areas: Immunotherapy, gene therapy, stem cell research, micrometastasis, photodynamic treatment, radiation therapy and microarray profiling of tumors. During the last few years more than ten cancer vaccine trials as well as novel trials of gene therapy, immunotoxins and photodynamic therapy based on in-house research have been performed at the hospital. Two spin-off companies, commercializing novel forms of cancer therapy, Photocure and GemVax have been formed based on these research programmes.

Affitech (Norway):
Dr. Martin Welschof Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +47 22 95 87 58
E-mail: m.welschof@affitech.com

The Norwegian Radium Hospital
Research Foundation Chief Executive Officer Jónas Einarsson
Phone: +47 48 09 63 55
E-mail: je@radforsk.no

Affitech (US office):
Dr. Rathin C. Das Chief Business Officer
Phone: + 1 925 935 9803
E-mail: r.das@affitech.com  

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