Affimed N.V. AFMD announced that it has appointed Shawn M. Leland as the company’s new chief executive officer (CEO). Shares of the company were down 6.6% on Sep 3 following the announcement of the news.
Leland will replace Andreas Harstrick who has been the acting CEO of Affimed since January 2024. The latter will continue in his role as the chief medical officer.
Leland most recently served as the interim CEO and board director of ForeBio. Previously, he held various senior leadership positions at Verastem Oncology and Argos Therapeutics.
He also founded Elevation Oncology and served as its CEO until January 2023.
AFMD Stock Underperforming Industry
Year to date, shares of Affimed have plunged 36.8% against the industry’s 0.6% increase.
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The company’s clinical-stage pipeline comprises three investigational candidates, AFM24, acimtamig (AFM13) and AFM28, which are currently being developed either as a monotherapy or in combination therapies with other agents for several oncology indications.
Affimed currently generates revenues related to a platform license provided to Genentech, a subsidiary of Swiss drug giant Roche RHHBY.
AFMD’s Pipeline Development
The phase I/IIa AFM24-102 study is evaluating AFM24 in combination with Roche’s oncology drug, Tecentriq (atezolizumab), for the treatment of refractory patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Roche’s Tecentriq is currently approved in the United States, EU and several other countries to treat some of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat forms of cancer, including advanced lung cancer, urothelial cancer and breast cancer.
The LuminICE-203 study is evaluating acimtamig in combination with AlloNK cells in patients with refractory Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
Affimed is also evaluating AFM28 as a monotherapy in a phase I dose-escalation study for the treatment of refractory acute myeloid leukemia.
In the absence of a marketed product, the successful development of its pipeline candidates remains the key focus for this clinical-stage company.
Also, it remains to be seen how the new CEO conducts Affimed’s ongoing business operations along with its pipeline development activities.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Affimed currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the biotech sector are Illumina, Inc. ILMN and Fulcrum Therapeutics, Inc. FULC, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
In the past 60 days, estimates for Illumina’s 2024 earnings per share have moved up from $1.18 to $3.62. Earnings per share estimates for 2025 have improved from $2.93 to $4.50. Year to date, shares of ILMN have lost 6.4%.
ILMN’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 463.46%.
In the past 60 days, estimates for Fulcrum Therapeutics’ 2024 loss per share have narrowed from $1.24 to 48 cents. Loss per share estimates for 2025 have narrowed from $1.71 to $1.51. Year to date, shares of FULC have jumped 20%.
FULC’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 393.18%.
5 Stocks Set to Double
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Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Illumina, Inc. (ILMN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Affimed N.V. (AFMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Fulcrum Therapeutics, Inc. (FULC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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