MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment) announced today that its current board member Professor Andreas Plückthun intends to resign from the Supervisory Board with effect of 16 May, 2007. Professor Plückthun is leaving the board at his own request, in order to devote additional time to his increasing number of academic research programs at the University of Zurich, as well as to be able to pursue other entrepreneurial opportunities. The Supervisory Board accepted Prof. Plückthun's decision with regret and thanked him for his long-lasting support and his contribution to the growth and success of the Company. As successor to Professor Plückthun, the Supervisory Board will propose the nomination of Dr. Walter Blättler, formerly Executive Vice President, Science and Technology of ImmunoGen, Inc., at the Company's next annual shareholder meeting in May. Professor Plückthun will remain connected to MorphoSys as an advisor on future technology development.
Dr. Walter A. Blättler studied chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETH Zürich), and subsequently held a research position as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University, Cambridge, U.S.A. Prior to joining ImmunoGen at its newly established laboratories, Dr. Blättler held various positions at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, in Boston. In 1987 he joined ImmunoGen Inc., as Vice President and subsequently Senior Vice President, R&D. In 1996 he was promoted to Executive Vice President, Science & Technology. During his time with the company, ImmunoGen introduced several antibody-based drugs into clinical development and established several successful research and/or development collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies.
'On behalf of the Supervisory Board of MorphoSys, I would like to thank Professor Plückthun for his long-lasting support and his very active contribution to the growth and success of the Company,' commented Dr. Gerald Möller, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of MorphoSys AG. 'At the same time, we are particularly glad to be able to nominate Dr. Walter Blättler, whose expertise in developing antibody-based drugs will be highly valuable for MorphoSys in its future development.'
'I would like to add my personal thanks to my co-founder Prof. Plückthun for his invaluable support and commitment to MorphoSys during his term on our board. With his broad scientific expertise in the field of antibody technologies, he has made an enormous contribution to the successful development of the Company to the state we see today, where the technology is fully established and successfully commercialized', commented Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys AG.
Professor Plückthun co-founded the Company in 1992 and served on the Supervisory Board of MorphoSys since that time. During his term with MorphoSys Professor Plückthun played a prominent role in establishing and developing the proprietary antibody technologies MorphoSys possesses today.
For further information please contact: Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Löser, Head of Corporate Communications, Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-122, gutjahr-loeser@morphosys.com or Mario Brkulj, Manager Public Relations, Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-454, brkulj@morphosys.com