MARTINSRIED, Germany, July 13, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) announced today that the Company achieved first place in the TecDAX segment of the 2005 Annual Corporate Governance Survey conducted by ergo Kommunikation. MorphoSys achieved a top rating for the second year running, and was also ranked the number one biotechnology company listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange. In the "Small and Mid Caps" category, which includes SDAX, MDAX and TecDAX companies, MorphoSys ranked within the top five for the third year in a row.
The study is conducted annually to compare the implementation of the German Corporate Governance Code and numerous other aspects of investor relations. The 160 companies surveyed are listed in selected indices of the Deutsche Borse and include 40 small caps from the Prime and General Standard segments. The complete study can be viewed on-line at www.ergo-pr.de.
"We are very pleased to have been again recognized for corporate governance excellence at MorphoSys. Corporate Governance has long been an important topic for us, and as such, plays a prominent role in our Company," stated Dave Lemus, Chief Financial Officer of MorphoSys AG.
About ergo Kommunikation: ergo Unternehmenskommunikation GmbH & Co. KG is a leading communications consultancy in Germany and belongs to the Top 50 agencies in the fields of Investor and Public Relations. 30 professionals in Cologne and Frankfurt advise their clients in different industries such as financial services, international trading, manufacturing, consulting as well as the public authorities. ergo is listing partner of Deutsche Borse and member of a global network of independent PR agencies.
About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys develops and applies innovative technologies for the production of synthetic antibodies, which accelerate drug discovery and target characterization. Founded in 1992, the Company's proprietary Human Combinatorial Antibody Library (HuCALa) technology is used by researchers worldwide for human antibody generation. The Company currently has licensing agreements and/or research collaborations with Bayer (Berkeley, California/USA), Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany), Bristol-Myers Squibb (New Jersey/USA), Centocor Inc. (Malvern, Pennsylvania/USA), GPC Biotech AG (Munich/Germany), Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Basel/Switzerland), ImmunoGen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Novartis AG (Basel, Switzerland), Pfizer Inc. (Delaware/USA), ProChon Biotech Ltd. (Rehovot/Israel), Schering AG (Berlin/Germany) and Xoma Ltd. (Berkeley, California/USA). Additionally, MorphoSys is active in the antibody research market through its Antibodies by Design business unit. Antibodies by Design was founded in 2003 for the purpose of exploiting the MorphoSys non-therapeutic antibody markets. MorphoSys' activities in the research antibody segment were significantly strengthened through the acquisition of the U.K. and U.S.-based Biogenesis Group in January 2005. For further information please visit the corporate website at: http://www.morphosys.com/.
Statements included in this press release which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the safe harbour provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may affect future operations and business prospects include, but are not limited to, clinical and scientific results and developments concerning corporate collaborations and the company's proprietary rights and other factors described in the prospectus relating to the company's recent public offering.