EXTON, Pa., Nov. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Morphotek(R) Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, was selected as one of the region’s top three fastest growing, privately held companies by the 2006 Philadelphia 100.
The Philadelphia 100, a merit-based program, recognizes the fastest growing, privately held companies located within the 10-county region surrounding the city. All award recipients are judged on fiscal performance between 2003 and 2005 and experience growth rates exceeding 85 percent.
“We’re honored to be included at the top portion of Philadelphia 100’s list of fastest growing, privately held companies,” said Nicholas C. Nicolaides, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Morphotek. “Our growth over the past several years is a result of our tremendous talent pool, broad product pipeline and unique antibody technologies.”
Morphotek, which recently closed a $40 million Series D financing deal, is pursuing further clinical development of its lead therapeutic antibodies, MORAb-003 and MORAb-009, and working to advance its pipeline of preclinical antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and infectious diseases.
MORAb-003 specifically targets the folate receptor alpha, a cell surface receptor over-expressed on ovarian, breast, colorectal, lung and renal tumors. The antibody is currently being evaluated in a multi-institutional Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with relapsed platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. Morphotek’s second clinical-stage compound, MORAb-009, is currently in a Phase 1 study ongoing at Johns Hopkins, Fox Chase Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute in patients with pancreatic, mesothelioma, non-small cell lung and ovarian cancer.
About Morphotek
Morphotek is a privately held biopharmaceutical company which discovers and develops monoclonal antibodies for oncology, inflammation and infectious diseases through the use of a proprietary human antibody technology called Human MORPHODOMA(R). Morphotek markets its Human MORPHODOMA platform in collaboration with third parties to yield high-quality human antibodies and attendant production lines that alleviate the burdensome royalty mandated by other antibody technologies. For further information, visit http://www.morphotek.com.
About Philadelphia 100
The Philadelphia 100 was founded in 1988 to identify, recognize and promote young successful companies in the Greater Philadelphia region. Previously recognized companies include NovaCare, Forman Mills, ATX, Mothers Work, Diamond Transportation, West Coast Video, Spectacor, Urban Outfitters and Kremer Laser Eye Center, among many others. The Philadelphia 100 is a registered trademark of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum of Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Business Journal and The Wharton Small Business Development Center. For more information about the Philadelphia 100, please visit the Web site at http://www.Philadelphia100.com.
Morphotek Inc.
CONTACT: Bob Radie, Morphotek Inc., +1-610-423-6180, radie@morphotek.com;or Bryan Evans, Reverb-DBC, +1-215-957-0300, bevans@dbcommunications.net,for Morphotek Inc.
