MARTINSRIED, GERMANY and MUNICH, GERMANY--(Marketwire - February 13, 2013) - MorphoSys AG /
MorphoSys and Heptares Sign Alliance to Develop Antibody Therapeutics
Targeting
GPCRs. Processed and transmitted by Thomson Reuters ONE.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Collaboration Harnesses Heptares' StaRs® to Open up New Target
Space for
Therapeutic Antibodies from MorphoSys' Ylanthia® Platform
MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) and UK-based
Heptares
Therapeutics, the leading GPCR drug discovery and development company,
have
signed an agreement to discover novel antibody therapeutics targeting G
protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which are membrane proteins involved in
a broad range
of biological processes and diseases.
"GPCRs comprise the single largest class of targets for
pharmaceuticals
currently on the market. Technical challenges have meant that GPCRs have
been
largely intractable to therapeutic antibody development. We believe
that by
combining Heptares' unique StaR(® )platform for generating
stable GPCRs as
antigens with our antibody discovery technology, we will be able to
unlock the
immense potential of therapeutic antibodies against GPCRs," commented Dr.
Simon
Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys AG.
"By creating StaRs, we believe we have overcome a major challenge facing
small
molecule and biologics discovery efforts focused on GPCRs. This has
enabled us
to create partnerships with leading pharma and biotech companies in both
areas
as well as to advance our own pipeline. We are therefore very excited to
sign
this new partnership with MorphoSys, one of the world's most advanced
antibody
therapeutic companies, to further leverage the power of our StaR®
technology
into the antibody space," said Malcolm Weir, Chief Executive
Officer of
Heptares.
Under the terms of the agreement, Heptares will generate stabilized
receptors
(StaRs) for a set of GPCR disease targets proposed by MorphoSys. MorphoSys
will
then apply its Ylanthia antibody library to discover and develop
antibody
therapeutics against these StaRs. MorphoSys has the right to sublicense to
third
parties access to these targets in conjunction with therapeutic
antibody
candidates. Heptares will receive upfront and research funding payments,
plus a
share of future sublicensing revenues generated by MorphoSys. Heptares
also
chose Ylanthia to develop and commercialize one therapeutic antibody
created by
MorphoSys against a GPCR target selected by Heptares. In this case,
MorphoSys is
eligible to receive license fees, milestones and royalties on any
Ylanthia
antibody developed by Heptares.
Heptares' StaRs offer a breakthrough solution to the main challenge
associated
with making antibodies against GPCRs, namely producing purified and
properly
folded protein for use as an antigen against which antibodies are raised.
StaRs
enable antibody discovery by stabilizing the GPCR protein outside the
cellular
membrane in the correct conformation. StaRs preserve biologically
relevant
epitopes thereby enabling generation of a diverse panel of
functional
antibodies. This has previously proved very difficult for GPCRs, which
lose
their conformational and functional integrity when removed from their
natural
environment in cell membranes.
MorphoSys's Ylanthia antibody library comprises more than 100 billion
distinct,
fully human antibodies, which makes it the industry's largest known
antibody Fab
library. Ylanthia's genetic composition translates into unprecedented
structural
diversity of the antibodies and offers optimized developability
features. The
library's diversity is expected to result in antibodies against
previously
inaccessible target molecules and to provide unique epitope coverage.
The GPCR superfamily is the largest and single most important family of
drug
targets in the human body. It plays a central role in many biological
processes
and is linked to a wide range of disease areas. GPCRs are expressed in
every
type of cell in the body where their function is to transmit signals
from
outside the cell across the membrane to signaling pathways within the
cell,
between cells and between organ systems. There are over 375
non-chemosensory GPCRs encoded in the human genome, of which 225 have
known ligands and 150 are
orphan targets. GPCRs are the site of action of 25-30% of currently
approved
drugs. Six of the top ten and 60 of the top 200 best-selling drugs in the
US in
2010 target GPCRs. Seven of 37 drugs approved in 2012 by the US Food &
Drug
Administration target GPCRs. By the end of 2012, 37 therapeutic
antibodies had
been approved and are being marketed in countries around the world.
However, to
date only one GPCR-targeting antibody has been approved.
About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys developed HuCAL, the most successful antibody library technology
in
the pharmaceutical industry. By successfully applying this and other
patented
technologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeutic
antibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human healthcare.
Together with its pharmaceutical partners, MorphoSys has built a
therapeutic
pipeline of more than 70 human antibody drug candidates for the treatment
of
cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer's disease, to name just a few.
With
its ongoing commitment to new antibody technology and drug development,
MorphoSys is focused on making the healthcare products of tomorrow.
MorphoSys is
listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol MOR. For regular
updates
about MorphoSys, visit http://www.morphosys.com.
About Heptares Therapeutics:
Heptares creates new medicines targeting clinically important, yet
historically
challenging, GPCRs (G protein-coupled receptors), a superfamily of drug
receptors linked to a wide range of human diseases. Leveraging our advanced
structure-based drug design technology platform, we have built an exciting
discovery and development pipeline of novel drug candidates, which have the
potential to transform the treatment of serious diseases, including
Alzheimer's
disease, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, migraine and diabetes. Our
pharmaceutical partners include Shire, AstraZeneca, MedImmune, Takeda,
Cubist
and MorphoSys, and we are backed by MVM Life Science Partners, Clarus
Ventures,
Novartis Venture Fund and Takeda Ventures. To learn more about Heptares,
please
visit www.heptares.com.
HuCAL®, HuCAL GOLD®, HuCAL PLATINUM®, CysDisplay®,
RapMAT®, arYla®,
Ylanthia® and 100 billion high potentials® are registered
trademarks of
MorphoSys AG.
Slonomics® is a registered trademark of Sloning BioTechnology
GmbH, a
subsidiary of MorphoSys AG.
StaRs® is a registered trademark of Heptares Therapeutics
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.
Media Release (PDF):
http://hugin.info/130295/R/1677417/547032.pdf
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originality of the information contained therein.
Source: MorphoSys AG via Thomson Reuters ONE
[HUG#1677417]
