MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) today announced the signing of a second PER.C6® license agreement with Dutch biotechnology company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL) and contract manufacturer 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 antibody program MOR103. MOR103 is a fully human HuCAL® antibody, developed in the area of inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Financial details on these agreements were not disclosed.
Further, MorphoSys has signed a Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Agreement with DSM Biologics to produce the clinical grade material in its FDA-approved facilities in Groningen, the Netherlands.
"Today's news shows that MorphoSys's MOR103 program is on track towards the next development stage - the filing of an IND in the second half of 2007," commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys. "This collaboration brings together a fully human antibody to treat inflammatory diseases with production capabilities in the same fully-human environment. Manufacturing human antibodies in such a manner offers several potential advantages over alternative production methods, especially when targeting chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis."
"We are very pleased that respected antibody companies like MorphoSys are being convinced of the advantages of PER.C6® for antibody production," said Dr Jaap Goudsmit, Chief Scientific Officer of Crucell. "As we have seen with vaccines, PER.C6® is increasingly being accepted as the cell substrate for the production of antibodies."
"We are very pleased that MorphoSys continues to successfully utilize the PER.C6® cell line, and that they have chosen DSM Biologics as their preferred manufacturing partner," said Terry Novak, Business Director and Chief Marketing Officer at DSM Biologics. "It is exciting that we are combining two strong platforms for fully human antibodies."
For further information please contact: Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Löser, Director Corporate Communications, Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-122, [email protected] or Mario Brkulj, Manager Public Relations, Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-454, [email protected]
About MorphoSys: MorphoSys develops and applies innovative technologies for the production of synthetic antibodies, which accelerate drug discovery and target characterization. Founded in 1992, the Company's proprietary Human Combinatorial Antibody Library (HuCALâ) technology is used by researchers worldwide for human antibody generation. The Company currently has licensing agreements and/or research collaborations with Bayer (Berkeley, California/USA), Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany), Bristol-Myers Squibb (New Jersey/USA), Centocor Inc. (Malvern, Pennsylvania/USA), Daiichi Sankyo & Co., Ltd. (Tokyo/Japan), GPC Biotech AG (Munich/Germany), Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Basel/Switzerland), ImmunoGen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Merck & Co., Inc. (Whitehouse Station, New Jersey/USA), Novartis AG (Basel, Switzerland), Novoplant GmbH (Gatersleben, Germany), OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Mountain View, USA), Pfizer Inc. (Delaware/USA), ProChon Biotech Ltd. (Rehovot/Israel), Schering AG (Berlin/Germany), Schering-Plough (Palo Alto/USA), Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Osaka/Japan), Xoma Ltd. (Berkeley, California/USA) and others. Additionally, MorphoSys is active in the antibody research market through its AbD Serotec business unit. The business unit was founded in 2003 for the purpose of exploiting the MorphoSys non-therapeutic antibody markets. MorphoSys' activities in the research antibody segment were significantly strengthened through the acquisition of the U.K. and U.S.-based Biogenesis Group in January 2005 and Serotec Group in 2006. For further information please visit the corporate website at: http://www.morphosys.com/.
About Crucell: Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX) is a biotechnology company focused on research, development and worldwide marketing of vaccines and antibodies that prevent and treat infectious diseases. Its vaccines are sold in public and private markets worldwide. Crucell's core portfolio includes a vaccine against hepatitis B and a virosome-adjuvanted vaccine against influenza. Crucell also markets travel vaccines, such as the only oral anti-typhoid vaccine and the only aluminium-free hepatitis A vaccine on the market. The Company has a broad development pipeline, including both early-stage products and products almost ready to go to market. Several Crucell products are based on its unique PER.C6® production technology. The Company licenses this and other technologies to the biopharmaceutical industry. Important partners and licensees include DSM Biologics, sanofi aventis, GSK and Merck & Co. Crucell is headquartered in Leiden (the Netherlands), with subsidiaries in Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Korea. The Company employs about 900 people. For more information, please visit www.crucell.com.
About DSM Biologics: DSM Biologics, a business unit of the DSM Pharmaceutical Products business group, is a leading contract manufacturer of biopharmaceutical products, the latest generation of drugs, mainly on the basis of native molecules and produced with the help of cell cultures. The company is renowned for its experience in the use of a broad range of cell culture systems (microbial and mammalian) and its expertise in the field of purification techniques. The company and Crucell have co-exclusive rights to license the high-producing PER.C6® human cell line to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry as a production platform for recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies. Established in 1986, DSM Biologics operates a manufacturing facility in Groningen, the Netherlands.
About DSM: DSM is active worldwide in nutritional and pharma ingredients, performance materials and industrial chemicals. The company creates innovative products and services that help improve the quality of life. DSM's products are used in a wide range of end markets and applications such as human and animal nutrition and health, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, automotive and transport, coatings, housing and electrics & electronics (E&E). DSM's strategy, named Vision 2010 - Building on Strengths, focuses on accelerating profitable and innovative growth of the company's specialties portfolio. Market-driven growth, innovation and increased presence in emerging economies are key drivers of this strategy. The group has annual sales of approximately EUR 8 billion and employs around 23,000 people worldwide. DSM ranks among the global leaders in many of its fields. The company is headquartered in the Netherlands, with locations in Europe, Asia and the Americas. More information about DSM can be found at www.dsm.com.
Statements included in this press release which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the safe harbour provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may affect future operations and business prospects include, but are not limited to, clinical and scientific results and developments concerning corporate collaborations and the company's proprietary rights.
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