MARTINSRIED, Germany, Sept. 18, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt:MOR) (Prime Standard Segment) announced today that a HuCAL GOLD-derived fully human antibody against a non-disclosed target molecule in the therapeutic area of oncology has been advanced to a Phase 1 clinical trial. This Investigational New Drug application filing, resulting from MorphoSys collaboration with Novartis, triggers a clinical milestone payment to MorphoSys.
In May 2004, Novartis and MorphoSys signed a wide-ranging strategic antibody alliance to jointly develop new antibody-based therapeutics to treat a range of illnesses. As part of the collaboration, Novartis acquired an equity stake in MorphoSys of approximately EUR 9 million. In June 2006, MorphoSys and Novartis expanded the collaboration to include a greater number of new therapeutic antibody projects annually -- resulting in increased Novartis funding for research at MorphoSys. The collaboration is scheduled to continue through May 2011.
"Seeing the first IND filing for a therapeutic program within our partnership with Novartis just three years after the initiation of the collaboration is an outstanding achievement and underscores the effectiveness and productivity of this highly interactive alliance," commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG. "Today's news exemplifies the drug development strength of our HuCAL GOLD technology to deliver antibody lead candidates that can advance quickly from the antibody generation stage through pre-clinical testing to clinical trials."
About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys is a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on the generation of fully human antibodies as a means to discover and develop innovative antibody-based drugs against life-threatening diseases. MorphoSys's goal is to establish HuCAL as the technology of choice for antibody generation in research, diagnostics and therapeutic applications. The Company currently has therapeutic and research alliances with the majority of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies including Bayer-Schering, Boehringer Ingelheim, Centocor/Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer and Roche. Within these partnerships, more than 40 therapeutic antibody programs are ongoing in which MorphoSys participates through exclusive license and milestones payments as well as royalties on any end products. Additionally, MorphoSys is active in the antibody research market through its AbD Serotec business unit. The business unit has operations in Germany (Munich), the U.S. (Raleigh, NC) and U.K. (Oxford). For further information please visit http://www.morphosys.com/
HuCAL(r) and HuCAL GOLD(r) are registered trademarks of MorphoSys AG
This communication contains certain forward-looking statements concerning the MorphoSys group of companies. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgment of MorphoSys as of the date of this release and involve risks and uncertainties. Should actual conditions differ from the Company's assumptions, actual results and actions may differ from those anticipated. MorphoSys does not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements as far as the wording of the relevant press release is concerned.