MorphoSys AG Announces Clinical Milestone from Strategic Alliance

MARTINSRIED, GERMANY and MUNCHEN, GERMANY--(Marketwire - March 28, 2012) -

MorphoSys AG / MorphoSys Announces Clinical Milestone from Strategic Alliance . Processed and transmitted by Thomson Reuters ONE. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) announced today that it has received a milestone payment from Novartis in connection with the clinical trial application (CTA/IND) and projected initiation of a phase 1 clinical trial. The HuCAL-derived, fully human antibody will be developed in the therapeutic area of cancer.

"Today's news marks the first clinical milestone for MorphoSys in 2012," commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG. "In total, our collaboration with Novartis has resulted in six clinical programs to date, with two being evaluated in phase 1 and four in phase 2. This excellent progress clearly underpins the success of this collaboration. Our therapeutic antibody pipeline continues to broaden and mature and is one of the broadest in the industry."

MorphoSys's clinical pipeline now comprises twelve programs in phase 1 and nine in phase 2 development including the Company's proprietary programs MOR103, which is in a phase 1b/2a trial for rheumatoid arthritis and a phase 1b trial in multiple sclerosis, MOR208, which is in a phase 1 trial for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and MOR202, which is in a phase 1/2a trial for multiple myeloma.

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. The company's AbD Serotec unit uses HuCAL and other antibody technologies to generate superior monoclonal antibodies for research and diagnostic applications.

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

HuCAL®, HuCAL GOLD®, HuCAL PLATINUM®, Ylanthia®, CysDisplay®, RapMAT® and arYla® are registered trademarks of MorphoSys.

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/1597626/503607.pdf

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Source: MorphoSys AG via Thomson Reuters ONE [HUG#1597626]