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MorphoSys AG today announced the signing of a PER.C6® license agreement with Dutch biotechnology company Crucell N.V. and technology partner DSM Biologics
MARTINSREID, Germany | March 17, 2008 | 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,
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or Mario Brkulj, Manager Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-454,
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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.
SOURCE: MorphoSys AG |
