MARTINSRIED, GERMANY and MUNICH, GERMANY--(Marketwire - October 12, 2010) -
MorphoSys AG /
MorphoSys and Proteros Biostructures Receive Research Grant to Develop New
Technology Platform for Structure-Based Engineering of Antibodies
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Analysis of Antibody-Antigen-Complex Structures to Allow More Efficient
Engineering of Therapeutic Antibodies
MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) and
Proteros
Biostructures announced today that they have been awarded a grant by the
German
Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF. The funding of
approximately
EUR 850,000 supports both companies in establishing a new technology
platform
for efficient structural characterization of antibody-antigen-
complexes.
MorphoSys will provide relevant antigen and antibody molecules, Proteros
will
provide advanced x-ray technology and computational chemistry know-how. The
high
resolution access to antibody-antigen-complex structures is expected to
allow a
faster and more efficient engineering of therapeutic antibodies. The
program is
part of Munich's biotechnology initiative "m4 - Personalized
Medicine and
Targeted Therapies - A New Dimension in Drug Development in the Munich
Region",
which this year received Leading-Edge Cluster status in a German
government
funding competition.
In the first project, the two companies will analyze MorphoSys's
proprietary
clinical anti-inflammatory antibody MOR103 and the binding properties
to its
corresponding antigen GM-CSF. MOR103 is a fully human HuCAL antibody
directed
against GM-CSF (granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor),
being
developed in the area of inflammatory diseases, for example
rheumatoid
arthritis. Due to its diverse functions in the immune system, GM-CSF
can be
considered a target for a broad spectrum of anti-inflammatory
therapies. The
program is currently being evaluated in a European clinical phase 1b/2a
trial in
patients with active rheumatoid arthritis.
"Early clarification of the precise interaction between antibody and
antigen is
very valuable information in drug discovery, as it can help in
identifying the
most promising lead candidate or in generating improved follow-up
compounds by
directed molecular evolution," commented Dr Marlies Sproll, Chief
Scientific
Officer of MorphoSys AG. "Within the research program we'll bring
together
MorphoSys's antibody expertise and Proteros's structure solution know-
how to
tackle challenges in crystallizing whole IgG molecules."
"The analysis of antibody-antigen interaction at atomic resolution
efficiently
guides the further evolution of antibodies," commented Dr. Torsten
Neuefeind,
CEO of Proteros. "In the joint program, a technology platform will be
developed
which combines the strengths of combinatorial biology and rational
structure
guided approaches".
+++ Save the dates: MorphoSys's R&D Day 2010 +++
London - Thursday, November 25, 2010
New York - Monday, November 29, 2010
About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys is an independent biotechnology company that develops novel
antibodies
for therapeutic, diagnostic and research applications. The Company's HuCAL
technology is one of the most powerful methods available for generating
fully
human antibodies. By successfully applying this and other proprietary
technologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeutic
antibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human health-care.
Through its alliances with some of the world's leading pharmaceutical
companies,
MorphoSys has created a pipeline of more than 60 drug candidates. The
Company is
expanding its drug pipeline by adding new partnered programs, and by
building a
portfolio of fully-owned therapeutic antibodies. For its proprietary
portfolio,
the Company is focused on the areas of oncology and inflammation. Its most
advanced program MOR103, a first-in-class, fully human antibody against GM-
CSF,
is currently tested in a Phase Ib/IIa trial in rheumatoid arthritis
patients.
Via its business unit AbD Serotec, MorphoSys is expanding the reach of its
technologies in the diagnostics and research markets. MorphoSys is
headquartered
in Munich, Germany and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the
symbol
"MOR". For further information, visit
http://www.morphosys.com/
HuCAL®, HuCAL GOLD®, HuCAL PLATINUM®, CysDisplay®
and RapMAT® are registered trademarks of MorphoSys.
About Proteros Biostructures GmbH:
Proteros is a privately held company, which provides services and
proprietary
technologies to support integrated drug discovery within life sciences. The
company accelerates and improves protein structure analysis and structure-
based
drug discovery with its expertise, industrialized processes and unique
technologies for crystallography and fragment-based lead generation.
Proteros
complements its clients' internal capabilities with external expertise and
access to flexible resources. Proteros currently provides services for more
than
70 pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients in Europe, North America, and
Japan.
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.
[HUG#1450968]
--- End of Message ---
MorphoSys AG
Lena-Christ-Str. 48 Martinsried / München Germany
WKN: 663200;ISIN: DE0006632003;Index:TecDAX,CDAX,Prime All Share,TECH All
Share,HDAX,MIDCAP;
Listed: Freiverkehr in Börse Stuttgart,
Freiverkehr in Hanseatische Wertpapierbörse zu Hamburg,
Freiverkehr in Börse Berlin,
Freiverkehr in Börse Düsseldorf,
Freiverkehr in Bayerische Börse München,
Freiverkehr in Niedersächsische Börse zu Hannover,
Prime Standard in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse,
Regulierter Markt in Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse;
Press Release:
http://hugin.info/130295/R/1450968/392188.pdf
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Source: MorphoSys AG via Thomson Reuters ONE
