Martinsried/Munich, August 16, 2004
MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MOR; Prime Standard Segment) and Boehringer Ingelheim announced today the start of a new program with MorphoSys for the development of a therapeutic antibody against an undisclosed target molecule involved in cardiovascular diseases. MorphoSys will generate this antibody using its proprietary HuCAL GOLD® technology. Boehringer Ingelheim will carry out the pre-clinical and clinical development, as well as subsequent marketing of all resulting products. MorphoSys will participate in the successful progress of the project, receiving milestone payments and royalties.The initiation of the new antibody program between Boehringer Ingelheim and MorphoSys was made in the context of the mutual cooperation and license agreement signed in February 2003. Under this agreement, MorphoSys received the exclusive, global license for certain patents owned by Boehringer Ingelheim. These patent rights related to the development, production and sale of therapeutic and diagnostic antibodies against a target molecule, ICAM-1. ICAM-1 is the basis for MorphoSys´ proprietary product programs MOR101 and MOR102, which are intended for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis and dermal burns. In return for this consideration, Boehringer Ingelheim was granted the option to develop two therapeutic antibodies using MorphoSys´ HuCAL® technology and exercised its first therapeutic antibody program option in November 2003. Today’s announcement represents the exercise of Boehringer Ingelheim’s second option for the development of a therapeutic antibody using the HuCAL® technology of MorphoSys.
“We are pleased to initiate this second antibody program in the MorphoSys collaboration to identify a unique therapeutic antibody to this important cardiovascular target”, commented Dr. Andreas Barner, Member of the Board of Managing Directors of Boehringer Ingelheim and responsible for Research, Development and Medicine. “The MorphoSys collaboration has been progressing successfully with the first antibody target and we look forward to continuing to use the advantages of the MorphoSys HuCAL® technology to identify an innovative New Biological Entity for this second target.”
“We are pleased by Boehringer Ingelheim’s sustained commitment to our HuCAL® technology”, stated Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys AG. “This cooperation is a model for how we can use our technology as currency to acquire rights to promising target molecules and, at the same time, extend our growing pipeline of therapeutic antibody programs.”