Copenhagen and Oslo, 30th September, 2011, 2011-09-30 09:15 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Affitech A/S, (NASDAQ OMX: AFFI), the antibody medicines company, today announced that Dr Martin Welschof, its Managing Director, will leave his position at the end of the year. The Board of Directors has accepted his resignation with effect from 31st December, 2011 and will consider potential candidates to succeed him during the coming weeks.
Dr Aleksandr Shuster, Chairman of Affitech Board of Directors, commented: "Martin has served Affitech for more than 9 years and during the last 12 months has led the management team in transforming the Company into a product-focused organization. Under his leadership, Affitech has successfully completed the preclinical and GMP manufacturing development of our leading antibody product, AT001/r84, providing a package of data which is currently being used to compile the clinical trial application in Russia. On behalf of the Board, I wish to thank Martin for his dedicated service to the Company and am pleased that he will remain in post at Affitech for the remainder of this year while we finalize plans for his successor.”
Dr Martin Welschof said: “It has been an honor to work with the many talented and dedicated people at Affitech. Together, we have made important progress in our goal to build an innovative portfolio of novel therapeutic monoclonal antibody drugs which might provide better treatment options to patients."
There are no changes to other members of the Company’s Executive Management.
About Affitech
Affitech A/S is a publicly traded (NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen) human therapeutic antibody company based in Copenhagen, Denmark with R&D facilities in Oslo, Norway. The company utilizes a range of proprietary antibody technologies for the discovery of fully human antibodies for application in oncology, inflammation and other disease areas. CBAS™ (Cell Based Antibody Selection) is Affitech’s premier discovery engine for the isolation of lead antibodies to cell surface molecules. Affitech co-develops its two lead antibody drug programs AT001/r84 and AT008/CCR4 with Russian partner IBC Generium. The Company’s initial focus is on rapid and cost effective development by partnering clinical trials in emerging markets. Further information is available at www.affitech.com.
About AT001/r84
AT001/r84 is a novel, proprietary therapeutic antibody to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) which is being developed for the treatment of certain human cancers. An anti-VEGF antibody is on the Russian list of highly needed innovative new drugs for the Russian market.
Disclaimer
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements including statements about Affitech’s expectations of the progression of its pipeline including the timing for commencement and completion of clinical trials and with respect to cash burn guidance. Such statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Affitech cautions investors that there can be no assurance that actual results or business conditions will not differ materially from those projected or suggested in such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the following: risks associated with technological development, the risk that research & development will not yield new products that achieve commercial success, the impact of competition, the ability to transact viable and profitable commercial deals, the risk of non-approval of patents not yet granted, and difficulties of obtaining relevant governmental approvals for new products. No expressed or implied representations or warranties are given concerning Affitech A/S or the accuracy or completeness of the information provided herein, and no claims shall be made by the recipient of this news release by virtue of the information contained herein.
Randi Krogsgaard, Director IR & Corporate Communications
Tel # +45 2320 1001, e-mail: ir@affitech.com
