MorphoSys Fills Key Position in Expanding Proprietary Development Team
MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) announced today the appointment of Lisa Rojkjaer, MD, as Vice President and Head of Clinical Development. Dr. Rojkjaer joins MorphoSys from Novartis Pharma AG where she most recently held the position of Head of Medical Affairs - Hematology, Europe, following her appointment as global clinical program head for Exjade®. Here she was responsible for all clinical activities in Europe for Novartis's Hematology portfolio including Gleevec® and Exjade®. Prior to her tenure at Novartis, she spent five years with Novo Nordisk, in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Princeton, USA as the Director of Global Medical Affairs Biopharmaceuticals and later Director, Clinical Development Hematology. During her time with Novo Nordisk she established a global medical affairs group for biopharmaceuticals and headed the clinical development of the US hematology portfolio amongst other accomplishments. Dr. Rojkjaer is a board certified hematologist and received her MD degree from the University of Toronto, where she also did her residency in internal medicine and fellowship in hematology. She has held academic and hospital appointments in the US, Canada and Europe.
'We are committed to building an excellent development organization by hiring top talent. Thus, I am particularly delighted to welcome Lisa Rojkjaer to occupy a key position in our growing development team,' commented Dr. Arndt Schottelius, Chief Development Officer of MorphoSys AG. 'Lisa brings extensive experience of drug development in the pharmaceutical industry, which will support us in our plans to advance and expand our proprietary pipeline and to develop a constant flow of valuable drug candidates.'
MorphoSys's expanding proprietary product development activities are funded by cash-flows from its partnered discovery business. MorphoSys plans to significantly broaden its proprietary therapeutic antibody pipeline in 2009 and the years ahead. At the end of 2009, the company expects a total of up to eight proprietary antibody programs ongoing, with its lead development program MOR103 in a phase 2 clinical trial and seven programs in preclinical development and discovery stage.
'I'm looking forward to working with the entire R&D team at MorphoSys to execute the Company's strategy and move antibody programs through clinical trials quickly and efficiently. Through both my academic and medical careers as well as my time within the pharmaceutical industry I gained profound scientific and drug development knowledge in hematology and oncology, which I will apply to advance MorphoSys's growing clinical pipeline,' commented Dr. Rojkjaer.
About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys is an independent biotechnology company that develops novel antibodies for therapeutic, diagnostic and research applications. The Company's HuCAL technology is one of the most powerful methods available for generating fully human antibodies. By successfully applying this and other proprietary technologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeutic antibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human health-care. Through its alliances with some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, MorphoSys has created a pipeline of more than 60 drug candidates. The Company is expanding its drug pipeline by adding new partnered programs, and by building a portfolio of fully-owned therapeutic antibodies. For its proprietary portfolio, the Company is focused on the areas of oncology and inflammation, within which it plans to have eight active programs by the end of 2009. Its most advanced program is MOR103, a first-in-class, fully human antibody against GM-CSF. MorphoSys expects to commence a Phase Ib/IIa trial of this antibody in rheumatoid arthritis patients in the second half of 2009. Via its business unit AbD Serotec, MorphoSys is expanding the reach of its technologies in the diagnostics and research markets. MorphoSys is headquartered in Munich, Germany and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 'MOR'. For further information, visit http://www.morphosys.com/