VC-backed Affimed raises $56m in IPO

Harriet Bailey
19 September 2014

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Affimed Therapeutics, a German immuno-oncology biotech backed by several venture capital firms, has raised $43m in an IPO on the Nasdaq.

It began trading on 12 September, selling 8,000,000 common shares at $7 apiece. In July, when it announced its intention to float, Affimed planned to raise up to $75m by trading at $11-13 per share.

Stock fell 17% on the first day of trading and closed on $6.12. After expenses, Affimed stands to gain in excess of $49m.

At the start of September, Affimed raised $15.7m in a series-E round led by existing backers Aeris Capital, BioMedInvest, Life Sciences Partners, Orbimed and Novo Nordisk. The biotech also signed a $14m loan agreement with Perceptive Advisers to reach a total of $29.7m.

Affimed has already invested $11m of the funding and $5.5m of the loan to continue clinical development of its cancer immunotherapies.

Jefferies, Leerink Partners and BMO Capital Markets acted as joint bookrunners and Trout Capital acted as co-manager.

Previous funding
Affimed first secured early-stage funding from SHS Gesellschaft für Beteiligungsmanagement in May 2000, followed by a €2m round in April 2003 by First Venture and SHS, according to unquote" data.

In April 2007, the company secured €25m in a series-B round from BioMed, Orbimed and LSP. The following February saw Novo inject a further €5m into Affimed's series-B.

The four firms then joined Aeris for a €20m series-C round in May 2010. Affimed raised €15.5m in a series-D funding round in October 2012.

Company
Founded in 2000, Affimed is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on targeted cancer immunotherapies. It develops products that aim to use the body's own immune system to fight tumours.

It will begin trials on therapies for Hodgkin's lymphoma and preclinical and early-stage clinical tests of treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, acute lymphocytic leukaemia and solid tumours.

Headquartered in Heidelberg at the German Cancer Research Centre, Affimed also operates a unit in Pilsen, Czech Republic, to focus on human antibody screening and optimisation.

People
Adi Hoess is the CEO of Affimed.