MARTINSRIED / MUNICH, Germany, April 29, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX, OTC: MPSYY) and The Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research, a unit of Temple University's School of Pharmacy, Philadelphia, Pa., USA, today announced a strategic alliance focused on the discovery of new therapeutic antibodies. Under the terms of the agreement, the Moulder Center will receive access to MorphoSys's Ylanthia® technology for use in validating new disease-related targets and generating therapeutic antibody candidates. MorphoSys will receive an exclusive option to develop any resulting antibodies. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
The Ylanthia library will be installed at Temple's Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research, a multidisciplinary research hub for the further development of scientific discoveries identified by Temple University faculty and scientists, as well as its external academic and industrial partners, into novel therapies. Its Biotherapeutics Discovery Unit under the leadership of Dr. Jon Condra is dedicated to working on drug design and lead optimization in multiple disease areas, including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular, metabolic and viral diseases.
"We are very much looking forward to cooperating with MorphoSys. Having already worked with their technologies in my former position in Merck's Department of Biologics Research, I know about the excellent quality of MorphoSys's antibody libraries and the company's development capabilities," said Dr. Condra, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at Temple and a member of the Moulder Center. "The highly specific and fully human antibodies we will be able to generate with Ylanthia will form the ideal basis to discover new therapeutic agents. Collaborations with a strong industrial partner like MorphoSys contribute substantially to the scientific advancement of drug discovery and development."
"In enhancing our facilities and capabilities at the Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research, we are focused on efficiently generating research data using a host of technologies and tools," said Dr. Magid Abou-Gharbia, Associate Dean for Research in Temple's School of Pharmacy and Director of the Moulder Center. "Our new collaborative effort with MorphoSys will provide our faculty, staff, and students with the cutting-edge scientific tools necessary to identify the next generation of antibody therapeutics."
"The collaboration with Temple embeds our latest technology, Ylanthia, in the scientific community and has the potential to expand our pipeline of exciting new drug candidates in the long term", commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG. "Access to novel disease-related target molecules is a key asset for any biopharmaceutical company and this alliance leverages our Ylanthia technology to source potentially interesting antibody leads for therapeutic applications."
About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys developed HuCAL, the most successful antibody library technology in the pharmaceutical industry. By successfully applying this and other patented technologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeutic antibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human healthcare.
Together with its pharmaceutical partners, MorphoSys has built a therapeutic pipeline of more than 80 human antibody drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer's disease, to name just a few. With its ongoing commitment to new antibody technology and drug development, MorphoSys is focused on making the healthcare products of tomorrow. MorphoSys is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol MOR. For regular updates about MorphoSys, visit http://www.morphosys.com
HuCAL®, HuCAL GOLD®, HuCAL PLATINUM®, CysDisplay®, RapMAT®, arYla® and Ylanthia® and 100 billion high potentials® are registered trademarks of MorphoSys AG.
Slonomics® is a registered trademark of Sloning BioTechnology GmbH, a subsidiary of MorphoSys AG.
About The Moulder Center:
The Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research was established in 2008 as a multidisciplinary drug discovery research hub in the Temple University School of Pharmacy. Equipped with unique capabilities and experienced scientists, the Center is actively pursuing collaborative research opportunities within Temple University and with external collaborators in the academic community, as well as industrial partners both in the U.S. and abroad. Moulder researchers are dedicated to facilitating these collaborative research efforts to support the discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents to improve the health and life of patients. The Center is led by its founding director, Dr. Magid Abou-Gharbi, who has over 26 years of pharmaceutical industry experience as Senior Vice President of Discovery Research at Wyeth Pharmaceutical. On the web at http://moulder.temple.edu/.
This communication contains certain forward-looking statements concerning the MorphoSys group of companies. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgment of MorphoSys as of the date of this release and involve risks and uncertainties. Should actual conditions differ from the Company's assumptions, actual results and actions may differ from those anticipated. MorphoSys does not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements as far as the wording of the relevant press release is concerned.
For more information, please contact:
MorphoSys AG
Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Löser
Head of Corporate Communications & IR,
Mario Brkulj
Associate Director Corporate Communications & IR,
Alexandra Goller
Specialist Corporate Communications & IR,
Jessica Rush
Specialist Corporate Communications & IR,
Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-404
investors@morphosys.com
Temple University
Preston M. Moretz
Office of Strategic Marketing & Communications
pmoretz@temple.edu
Tel: +1-215-204-4380
Media Release (PDF) http://hugin.info/130295/R/1780490/608758.pdf
HUG#1780490