Affitech has 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. The E.E.T. Pipeline project is a multidisciplinary consortium of leading European institutions and SME (Small and Medium Enterprise)s, which the EU is funding with 4 million Euro's for developing new methods of diagnosis and treatment for ET. Such methods would be based on gene expression profiling of tumors and would include other post-genomic investigative technologies. The EU has taken this initiative since Embryonal Tumors are classified as orphan diseases, but they do not comprise large enough markets to justify the costs of drug development for the pharmaceutical industry.

"Affitech has become involved in the E.E.T. Pipeline project because of the current absence of efficient targeted therapeutics for ET. We are excited about the opportunity of participating in the project, and the possibility of contributing to coordinated progress in the treatment and diagnosis of ET", commented Dr Martin Welschof, CEO of Affitech.

Approximately 30% of childhood malignancies are embryonal tumors, which because of their unique genetic and morphologic features often demonstrate resistance to conventional treatment approaches successful in adults. Embryonal Tumors are also associated with lower survival rates compared to other childhood cancers. However, their early manifestation in infants and young children suggests that only a limited number of genetic changes may lead to the transformed phenotype. Although cDNA and array -based studies have given insight into potential therapeutic targets, only a limited number of studies have addressed the functional analysis of identified target genes. Affitech's role will be to focus the power of its suite of unique antibody discovery technologies in solving this problem.

Dr. Bjorn Cochlovius, Afftech's Director of R&D said, "We have utilized our highly efficient antibody libraries and high throughput screening systems to create a pipeline of multiple therapeutic cancer antibody candidates for both ourselves and our commercial partners. Therefore, we are delighted to be able to utilize our experience with several internationally recognised research groups involved in E.E.T. Pipeline consortium in identifying potential antibody therapeutics for this devastating childhood disease".



About Affitech AS

Affitech is a human therapeutic antibody discovery and development company with headquarters and R&D facilities in Oslo, Norway and a US subsidiary in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Company's current disease focus is oncology and it utilizes two discrete but unique approaches for the discovery of fully human antibodies - (i) Molecule Based Antibody Discovery, and (ii) Cell Based Antibody Discovery. The Company has concluded deals with commercial organizations such as XOMA, NatImmune, Peregrine, Viventia, Dyax, and others.

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