Martinsried/Munich, Germany, and Mountain View, CA., U.S.A., June 8, 2006
MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) and U.S. based biopharmaceutical company OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the signing of a license agreement on the use of MorphoSys’s HuCAL® technology in the research and development of human therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of various cancers, including breast, lung, colon and prostate by targeting cancer stem cells. Under the terms of the agreement, MorphoSys grants OncoMed access to its proprietary antibody library HuCAL GOLD® for use by OncoMed in its drug discovery programs. The two-year contract includes an option for OncoMed to develop HuCAL®-derived therapeutic antibodies. The agreement includes an up-front payment and annual user fees. Further financial details were not disclosed.Founded in August 2004, OncoMed Pharmaceuticals is discovering and developing monoclonal antibodies and proteins capable of destroying “cancer stem cells”, a recently discovered type of cell believed to seed the growth of cancers and underlie cancer’s ability to spread and take root in tissues. OncoMed is at the forefront of applying research from the University of Michigan to isolate, purify, and analyze cancer stem cells. The company has established a large library of antibodies as well as proteins capable of binding to the cell surface proteins expressed on cancer stem cells capable of inhibiting cancer stem cell growth. In September 2005 OncoMed announced the completion of a first round of funding for $14 million from venture capital firms including Latterell Venture Partners, US Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures and The Vertical Group.
HuCAL GOLD® is the latest and most powerful antibody library developed by MorphoSys. The technology utilizes an innovative concept for the in vitro generation of highly specific and fully human antibodies with unique optimization capabilities. It is ideally suited for a broad range of purposes reaching from target validation to drug development. OncoMed has the right to exercise an option for commercial development of therapeutic antibodies, in which case MorphoSys would receive exclusive license fees, milestone payments, as well as royalties.
“We expect our agreement with MorphoSys to play an important role in expanding OncoMed’s ability for developing novel therapeutics to treat cancer by targeting cancer stem cells,” said Paul J. Hastings, President and Chief Executive Officer of OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
“An important part of our strategy is to put our technology to work in creating the next generation of cancer drugs in selected partnerships,” commented Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys. “OncoMed’s approach to fight cancer by aiming at cancer stem cells is innovative and very interesting both scientifically and commercially. We are delighted, to enable OncoMed with our HuCAL GOLD® technology as the basis to explore their therapeutic efforts in this space.”
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 Bayer (Berkeley, California/USA), Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany), Bristol-Myers Squibb (New Jersey/USA), Centocor Inc. (Malvern, Pennsylvania/USA), Daiichi Sankyo & Co., Ltd. (Tokyo/Japan), GPC Biotech AG (Munich/Germany), Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Basel/Switzerland), ImmunoGen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Merck & Co., Inc. (Whitehouse Station, New Jersey/USA), Novartis AG (Basel, Switzerland), Novoplant GmbH (Gatersleben, Germany), Pfizer Inc. (Delaware/USA), ProChon Biotech Ltd. (Rehovot/Israel), Schering AG (Berlin/Germany), Schering-Plough (Palo Alto/USA), Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Osaka/Japan), Xoma Ltd. (Berkeley, California/USA) and others. 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 and Serotec Group in 2006. 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.