MARTINSRIED, Germany, Jan. 10, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Morphosys AG (Frankfurt:MOR) (Prime Standard Segment:TecDAX) today announced the launch of a sponsored ADR (American Depository Receipt) Program Level I in order to support broadening the Company's U.S. investor base.
The trading symbol for MorphoSys's ADR is MPSYY and its CUSIP number is 617760103. Each MorphoSys ADR represents one MorphoSys ordinary share as traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. MorphoSys has appointed The Bank of New York as the depositary bank for its ADR Program.
"The launch of our ADR Program is intended to increase access to the U.S. capital markets, and enhance the trading options for existing and potential new investors," commented Dave Lemus, Chief Financial Officer of MorphoSys.
http://hugin.info/130295/R/1029295/164893.pdf
About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys, headquartered in Munich, Germany, is a leading biotechnology company focusing on application of fully human antibodies for therapeutic and research purposes. 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 (HuCAL) 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), Merck & Co., Inc. (New Jersey/USA), Novartis AG (Basel, Switzerland), Novoplant GmbH (Germany), Pfizer Inc. (Delaware/USA), ProChon Biotech Ltd. (Rehovot/Israel), Schering AG (Berlin/Germany), Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Japan), Xoma Ltd. (Berkeley, California/USA) and others. 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.