MorphoSys Obtains Agreement for Production of Antibody Material in
MOR202 Program with Crucell and DSM
MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MOR; Prime Standard Segment,
TecDAX) today announced the signing of a PER.C6® license agreement
with Dutch biotechnology company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ:
CRXL) and technology partner DSM Biologics. This license agreement
allows MorphoSys to use the PER.C6® cell line in the production of
clinical grade material for the development of its proprietary
therapeutic cancer antibody program MOR202. MOR202 is a fully human
HuCAL antibody directed against CD38, a therapeutic target for the
treatment of multiple myeloma and certain leukemias. Financial
details on these agreements were not disclosed.
This set-up brings together a fully human antibody to treat
blood-borne cancers with production capabilities in the same
fully-human environment. Manufacturing human antibodies in such a
manner offers several potential advantages over alternative
production methods.
"Today's news shows that MorphoSys's MOR202 program is on track
towards the next development stages - formal pre-clinical development
in 2008 and 2009 and the filing of an application for clinical trials
early 2010," commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer
of MorphoSys. "Based on the positive experiences we have gained with
Crucell's cell line and DSM's manufacturing capabilities within our
lead program MOR103 we have chosen to continue to use this set-up for
MOR202."
For further information please contact: Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Löser,
Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, Tel: +49 (0)
89 / 899 27-122, gutjahr-loeser@morphosys.com or Mario Brkulj,
Manager Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, Tel: +49 (0)
89 / 899 27-454, brkulj@morphosys.com
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 largest
pharmaceutical companies including Boehringer Ingelheim,
Centocor/Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer and Roche. Within these
partnerships, more than 50 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® and HuCAL GOLD® 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.
