MARTINSRIED, Germany, July 18, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) announced today that it has strengthened its management in two positions by appointing Dr. Robert Friesen as Director of Pre-Clinical Development and Dr. Bernhard Erning as Director of Treasury & Corporate Development. Dr. Friesen will coordinate the further development of the Company's proprietary, therapeutic antibody programs and head their strategic management. Dr. Erning will be responsible for the areas of Treasury, Corporate Development and Financial Instruments.
Dr. Friesen has many years of experience in pharmaceutical development. He joins MorphoSys from Dutch biopharmaceutical company AM-Pharma BV, where in his position as Vice President of Research and Pre-Clinical Development he was responsible for the development of the company's lead compounds from the research stage into clinical development. Before moving to AM-Pharma, Dr. Friesen held a management position at the department for innovative drug delivery systems at Biomade Technology Foundation - a Dutch research institute developing medical applications in the area of nanotechnology. Dr. Friesen graduated in biochemistry at the University of Utrecht and earned his doctorate at the University of Texas.
Prior to joining MorphoSys, Dr. Erning worked in international investment banking for more than fifteen years. As the Head of Equity Capital Markets for West LB and Executive Director of Corporate Finance for UBS in London and Frankfurt, he advised numerous companies on initial public offerings, M&A transactions and structured financing. Dr. Erning possesses a PhD in Philosophy and is also an economics graduate from the University of Freiburg.
"We are very pleased to have gained two outstanding individuals for these newly created positions within the MorphoSys Group," explained Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys AG. "The appointment of Dr. Friesen as Director of Pre-Clinical Development underscores our commitment to the further development and commercialization of our proprietary antibody projects. In this regard, Dr. Friesen's expertise in pre-clinical studies is of particular importance to us."
"The appointment of Bernhard Erning as Director of Treasury & Corporate Development bolsters our on-going efforts in the capital markets area," commented Dave Lemus, Chief Financial Officer of MorphoSys AG.
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(R)) 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.