MorphoSys AG Announces First Scientific Publication on Novel Antibody Platform Ylanthia

MARTINSRIED, GERMANY and MUNICH, GERMANY--(Marketwired - May 10, 2013) - MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment; TecDAX) announced today that a first scientific publication on the Company’s novel, proprietary antibody platform Ylanthia was published in the current issue of “mAbs”. The article titled “A fully synthetic human Fab antibody library based on fixed VH/VL framework pairings with favorable biophysical properties” describes for the first time the detailed design, generation and testing of the Ylanthia library. Ylanthia became commercially available for existing and new partners in 2012 and is currently used in two commercial agreements.

“Ylanthia sets new standards for therapeutic antibody generation. Its unique and innovative design translates into unprecedented structural diversity which is expected to result in antibodies against previously inaccessible target molecules and covering a unique epitope space. Furthermore, our scientists introduced an entirely new concept to improve biophysical characteristics that are relevant for antibody selection, manufacturing and administration, finally leading to better drugs,” commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG.

To confirm the functionality and quality of the Ylanthia antibody library, phage selections against several antigens were performed. Subsequent antibody characterization revealed broad diversity and significantly improved biophysical properties including a very low aggregation tendency, increased thermodynamic stability and favorable solubility of Ylanthia antibodies.

Ylanthia comprises more than 100 billion distinct, fully human antibodies, which makes it the industry’s largest known antibody Fab library. It uses 36 fixed, naturally-occurring heavy and light chain framework combinations, which translates into very broad structural diversity. Ylanthia’s antibody frameworks were pre-selected for favorable expression levels, stability and aggregation behavior. A shift towards higher stability and stress tolerance will increase shelf life and serum stability of resulting antibody products, making them more cost-effective to produce. A higher solubility in turn opens up the path for more convenient ways of administration, to the benefit of patients. When needed, antibodies from the Ylanthia library are optimized using MorphoSys’s proprietary Slonomics technology. Slonomics enables optimization of Ylanthia antibodies with unprecedented speed and flexibility.

The full paper is available on

http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/mabs/article/24218/

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.

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.

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/1700768/561397.pdf

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Source: MorphoSys AG via Thomson Reuters ONE

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