April 6, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
MorphoSys AG believes there is still life for its compound MOR202 after a co-development deal with Celgene Corporation was scrapped last month, Reuters reported this morning. Details as to why the partnership with Celgene failed have not been released.
According to the report, the company is still testing the compound in a Phase I clinical trial and believe the compound, which is a possible treatment for the blood cancer multiple myeloma, is promising. Simon Moroney, chief executive officer of Germany-based MorphoSys AG, said research into the effectiveness of MOR202 has not died as a result of the termination of the deal with Celgene.
Even though the $818 million Celgene deal was terminated less than two years after the two companies entered into an agreement, clinical development of MOR202, which currently involves a MorphoSys-sponsored phase 1/2a trial in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients, is continuing as planned, the company said. The trial includes combination cohorts with Celgene‘s lenalidomide and pomalidomide. MOR202 binds to CD38, a clinically validated target in multiple myeloma and possibly other hematological disorders.
Multiple myeloma causes cancer cells to accumulate in the bone marrow, where they crowd out healthy blood cells. Rather than produce helpful antibodies, the cancer cells produce abnormal proteins that can cause kidney problems, according to the Mayo Clinic. There are currently a number of medications on the market to treat multiple myeloma, including Celgene’s thalidomide, carfilzomib, marketed under the trade name Kyprolis by Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Bortezomib, sold as Velcade by Millennium Pharmaceuticals.
“We are committed to continuing the development of MOR202 as there is a high unmet medical need for new treatment options in multiple myeloma,” Arndt Schottelius, chief development officer of MorphoSys AG said in a press release announcing the end of the agreement with Celgene. “Based on pre-clinical data, we see significant promise in combining MOR202 with Celgene‘s lenalidomide and pomalidomide in clinical trials which will commence soon.”
MorphoSys aims to release clinical data from the ongoing trial at a medical conference later this year.
MorphoSys’ stock has not recovered since the deal with Celgene was scrapped. The stock had been trading at $74.90 per share, but share prices plummeted more than 20 percent to $60.97 per share after the deal was terminated. Stock is currently trading at $62.32 per share. The drop following the termination of the Celgene deal was the biggest MorphoSys has seen in more than 12 years, Bloomberg reported.
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