MARTINSRIED, Germany, May 16, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt:MOR) (Prime Standard Segment) announced that the Company's shareholders approved a three-for-one split of the Company's common stock at the Company's Annual Shareholder Meeting today. Each shareholder will receive two additional shares for every outstanding share held on a given record date, and trading will begin on a split-adjusted basis in July 2007.
As part of the shareholder assembly agenda, the shareholders also confirmed the appointment of Dr. Walter Blattler, formerly Executive Vice President, Science and Technology of ImmunoGen, Inc., to the MorphoSys Supervisory Board. Dr. Blattler replaces Prof. Dr. Andreas Pluckthun, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Zurich and co-founder of MorphoSys AG.
Prof. Pluckthun co-founded the Company in 1992 and served on the board since that time. He is leaving the board at his own request, in order to devote additional time to his increasing number of academic research programs at the University of Zurich, as well as to be able to pursue other entrepreneurial opportunities.
All other management proposals of the shareholder assembly agenda were passed with large majorities at the meeting in Munich.
"We are pleased to announce Dr. Blattler's formal appointment to our Supervisory board. On behalf of the company, I would like to thank Professor Pluckthun for his efforts in helping us to establish MorphoSys as one of the leading antibody companies in the world," commented Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys AG.
"Today's announced stock split reflects our optimism in the growth prospects of MorphoSys," remarked Dave Lemus, Chief Financial Officer of MorphoSys AG. "The resulting increased liquidity of MorphoSys's shares will support our efforts to broaden our shareholder base as it offers potential benefits for both private and institutional investors."
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 (HuCAL) technology is used by researchers worldwide for human antibody generation. The Company currently has licensing agreements and/or research collaborations with Astellas (Japan), Bayer-Schering (USA/Germany), Boehringer Ingelheim (Germany), Bristol-Myers Squibb (USA), Centocor Inc. (USA), Daiichi Sankyo & Co., Ltd. (Japan), GPC Biotech AG (Germany), Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Switzerland), ImmunoGen Inc. (USA), Merck & Co., Inc. (USA), Novartis AG (Switzerland), Novoplant GmbH (Germany), OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (USA), Pfizer Inc. (USA), ProChon Biotech Ltd. (Israel), Schering-Plough (USA), Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Japan), Xoma Ltd. (USA) and others. Additionally, MorphoSys is active in the antibody research market through its AbD Serotec business unit. The business unit 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 and Serotec Group in 2006. For further information please visit the corporate website at: http://www.morphosys.com/
HuCAL(r) and HuCAL GOLD(r) are registered trademarks of MorphoSys AG
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.