MRK - AACR 2021 highlights Eli Lilly's new KRAS battle; Affimed's Natural Killer cell therapy

The first week of AACR 2021 (American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting) has concluded with Affimed (AFMD) emerging as a clear winner while iTeos Therapeutics (ITOS) disappointed with an early-stage study for its lead asset.The presentations from Eli Lilly (LLY), Oncternal Therapeutics (ONCT), Sanofi (SNY), and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) also gained investor attention.Affimed shines with NK cell-based cancer therapyAffimed has surged ~20.5% since it released positive initial clinical data from an investigator-sponsored study for AFM13, an innate cell engager that can activate natural killer (“NK”) cells and macrophages.At a time, the potential of CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor) T cell therapies seems limited, Affimed’s AFM13 combined with cord blood-derived allogeneic NK cells has shown efficacy in a Phase 1 trial for recurrent/refractory CD30-positive lymphomas.All four patients who received the therapy were heavily pretreated, with between 4 and 14 previous lines of therapy. All have responded to the treatment with two complete and

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AACR 2021 highlights Eli Lilly’s new KRAS battle; Affimed’s Natural Killer cell therapy