MARTINSRIED, GERMANY--(Marketwire - June 16, 2009) -
MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) announced today that Schering-Plough Corporation has triggered its pre-existing option to extend the current collaboration between the two companies for another year. The partnership, which was initiated in May 2006, may be extended by Schering-Plough annually until 2011.
The agreement grants Schering-Plough continued access to MorphoSys’s proprietary antibody library HuCAL GOLD at its research site, Schering-Plough Biopharma, in Palo Alto, Calif., and contains options for therapeutic licenses. For therapeutic antibody projects undertaken by Schering-Plough, MorphoSys is eligible to receive license fees, plus milestone payments relating to the successful advancement of projects in clinical development, and royalties on HuCAL antibodies developed under the agreement. Under the extended agreement, MorphoSys continues to receive annual user fees for access to its HuCAL platform. Further financial details were not disclosed.
“We are pleased with Schering-Plough’s decision to extend the current collaboration,” comments Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys. “Today’s news demonstrates once more the continued commitment of leading pharmaceutical companies worldwide to our HuCAL technology for their antibody-based drug development programs.”
For further information please contact: Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Löser, Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-122, gutjahr-loeser@morphosys.com or Mario Brkulj, Senior Manager Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-454, brkulj@morphosys.com
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’s 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®, HuCAL GOLD®, HuCAL PLATINUM® and RapMAT® 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.
This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Press Release: http://hugin.info/130295/R/1322812/310226.pdf
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