MorphoSys Secures Full-Term of Strategic Alliance
MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) announced today that Novartis has committed to a ten-year term of the strategic alliance originally signed in December 2007. The decision was based on the successful achievement by MorphoSys of certain predefined improvements in its proprietary technologies. The collaboration will now run until 2017 and may be extended by Novartis for an additional two years beyond that time under the same financial terms and conditions. The option for Novartis to terminate the alliance after seven years is thereby removed.
"Today's news further increases the secured value for MorphoSys from our largest therapeutic alliance to date. Our alliance with Novartis is developing well and we are therefore delighted to be able to exploit its full potential", commented Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys AG. "The latest technological advances in our core antibody platform contributed significantly to achieving this extension."
In December 2007, MorphoSys and Novartis forged one of the industry's most comprehensive strategic alliances in the discovery and development of biopharmaceuticals. Financial terms include committed payments in excess of US$600 million over the ten-year lifetime of the agreement. Within the collaboration, two antibody programs are currently in clinical development.
For further information please contact: Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Löser, Head of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-122, [email protected] or Mario Brkulj, Senior Manager Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-454, [email protected]
About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys is a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on the generation of fully human antibodies as a means to discover and develop innovative antibody-based drugs against life-threatening diseases. MorphoSys's goal is to establish HuCAL as the technology of choice for antibody generation in research, diagnostics and therapeutic applications. The Company currently has therapeutic and research alliances with the majority of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies including Boehringer Ingelheim, Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc./Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer and Roche. Within these partnerships, more than 50 therapeutic antibody programs are ongoing in which MorphoSys participates through exclusive license and milestones payments as well as royalties on any end products. Additionally, MorphoSys is active in the antibody research market through its AbD Serotec business unit. The business unit has operations in Germany (Munich), the U.S. (Raleigh, NC) and U.K. (Oxford). For further information please visit http://www.morphosys.com/
HuCAL®, HuCAL GOLD®, HuCAL PLATINUM® and RapMAT® are registered trademarks of MorphoSys AG
This communication contains certain forward-looking statements concerning the MorphoSys group of companies. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgment of MorphoSys as of the date of this release and involve risks and uncertainties. Should actual conditions differ from the Company's assumptions, actual results and actions may differ from those anticipated. MorphoSys does not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements as far as the wording of the relevant press release is concerned.