AFFiRiS AG has successfully completed its capital increase and raises an additional € 10m from existing investors. The Supervisory Board has appointed Oliver Siegel as Chief Executive Officer and Dr. Arne von Bonin as Chief Scientific Officer. Prof. Dr. Christoph Huber has joined the Supervisory Board as of 18 May 2015 and replaces Dr. Walter Schmidt who has decided to leave the Supervisory Board. Mag. Vera Bürger and Claudia Juno have been appointed by the employees to join the Supervisory Board.
In an extraordinary shareholders meeting on 18 May 2015 the shareholders of the company have agreed to a capital increase of € 10m. The new shares have equally been subscribed by the two major investors of the company, Santo Holding – the family office of the Strüngmann family – and the MIG Funds represented by MIG Verwaltungs AG. The shareholders also elected Prof. Dr. Christoph Huber as member of the Supervisory Board. He will replace Dr. Walter Schmidt who has decided to leave the Supervisory Board. Walter Schmidt co-founded AFFiRiS eleven years ago and profoundly influenced the company until his resignation from operational responsibilities this past January.
Michael Motschmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AFFiRiS said: "Walter Schmidt has been instrumental in shaping AFFiRiS. His business acumen and his entrepreneurship have been critical in establishing the AFFITOME®-technology as a leading platform for active immune therapy in the prevention and therapy of chronic illnesses. I am pleased to welcome Prof. Christoph Huber to the Supervisory Board. His outstanding scientific achievements in the field of immunology and his entrepreneurial spirit as founder of various successful biotech companies will be of great value to the future development of AFFiRiS." The Supervisory Board appointed Oliver Siegel (49) as Chief Executive Officer and Dr. Arne von Bonin (51) as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO).
The new capital allows the company to further advance its AFFITOME®-technology for the prevention and therapy of chronic illnesses. Oliver Siegel comments these developments: "The successful capital increase demonstrates the continued support from our investors in the technology and the scientific team. The ongoing support will be essential to the successful development of our vaccine technology as platform technology in a number of indications."
Recently, AFFIRIS presented Phase 1 data on its Parkinson’s vaccine candidate PD01. PD01A was the first α-synuclein targeting drug candidate that successfully completed a phase 1 study. α-synuclein is a protein which plays a role in the pathological processes of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. The program enjoys the support from The Michael J. Fox Foundation, the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s research.
About AFFiRiS AG:
On the basis of its proprietary patented AFFITOME®-technology, AFFiRiS develops tailor-made therapeutic peptide vaccines against chronic diseases. Currently, its clinical pipeline consists of 3 drug candidates against Parkinson’s, MSA and Hypercholesterolemia. Further vaccine candidates against diabetes, allergies, asthma as well as Huntington's disease are in preclinical development. AFFiRiS has been able to attract funding of approx. € 120m to date, half of which comes from license income and government grants. AFFiRiS currently employs 57 highly qualified staff at the Campus Vienna Biocenter in Vienna, Austria.
www.affiris.com