Boehringer Ingelheim Gains Access to Additional MorphoSys Technology
MARTINSRIED, Germany, July 9, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) --
MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt:MOR) (Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) announced today that Boehringer Ingelheim has exercised a pre-existing option to use MorphoSys's proprietary RapMAT technology for faster antibody optimization as part of the existing technology transfer agreement between the two companies. As a result, Boehringer Ingelheim will have access to MorphoSys's RapMAT technology module alongside the existing installation of the Company's proprietary antibody library HuCAL GOLD at Boehringer Ingelheim's research site in Vienna, Austria. Under the extended agreement, MorphoSys will receive annual user fees for the RapMAT technology and for access to its HuCAL platform. Financial details were not disclosed.
RapMAT, which stands for "rapid maturation," improves the options for identifying antibodies from the HuCAL libraries and reduces the time for generation of promising therapeutic lead molecules. The RapMAT technology is completely compatible with the HuCAL GOLD antibody library. MorphoSys believes that the use of RapMAT can greatly speed up antibody drug discovery, while widening the pool of drug candidates from which to choose.
Under the framework of the present five-year agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim has the option to receive multiple exclusive licenses on new therapeutic antibody programs. Today, the collaboration encompasses four active therapeutic antibody programs in various indications. Two new programs have been started recently and HuCAL-derived antibodies are currently being optimized at MorphoSys on behalf of Boehringer Ingelheim.
"As part of our internal antibody generation process at MorphoSys, RapMAT has already led to earlier achievement of milestones in partnered programs. We thus welcome Boehringer Ingelheim's decision to broaden its technological portfolio and use our RapMAT technology module to speed up their internal drug development process as well," commented Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys. "Boehringer Ingelheim is an important partner; the collaboration has resulted to date in promising drug candidates for various therapeutic areas."
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