Affimed N.V. (Nasdaq: AFMD) announced that the company has been added to the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (NBI) as part of NBI’s annual selection of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market that meet NBI’s eligibility criteria. Affimed will be added to the NBI effective prior to market open on December 21, 2015.
The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index is a modified market capitalization weighted index that is designed to track the performance of a set of securities listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ) that are classified as either biotechnology or pharmaceutical according to the Industry Classification Benchmark and is re-ranked annually in December.
Affimed is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing highly targeted cancer immunotherapies. The company’s product candidates are being developed in the field of immuno-oncology, which represents an innovative approach to cancer treatment that seeks to harness the body’s own immune defenses to fight tumor cells. The most potent cells of the human defense arsenal are types of white blood cells called natural killer cells, or NK-cells, and T-cells.
Affimed’s proprietary, next-generation bispecific antibodies, called TandAbs for their tandem antibody structure, are designed to direct and establish a bridge between either NK-cells or T-cells and cancer cells, triggering a signal cascade that leads to the destruction of cancer cells. Affimed has focused its research and development efforts on three proprietary TandAb programs for which it retains global commercial rights.