Corporate | 5 February 2004 07:45

MorphoSys Enters New Antibody Market

Corporate-news announcement sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– MorphoSys Enters New Antibody Market: “Antibodies by Design” Generates Custom Research Antibodies MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt: MOR; Prime Standard Segment) today announced the formation of its new business unit “Antibodies by Design”, which will market HuCAL antibodies in non-therapeutic applications. The range of products and services offered by Antibodies by Design targets primarily industrial and academic institutions requiring custom-generated antibodies for use in research applications. Over one hundred new orders have been acquired to-date thus demonstrating the significant market potential for custom generated research antibodies. The HuCAL technology is currently employed at MorphoSys in a number of therapeutic antibody collaborations with renowned pharmaceutical and biotechnology company partners. The Antibodies by Design unit was originally conceived in order to expand the market for MorphoSys’ core competence in the generation of fully human antibodies using its well-established HuCAL technology. Using the HuCAL technology, novel research antibodies can be generated within 8 to 10 weeks – a significant speed improvement over the current market standard of 6 to 9 months using animal-based technologies. As part of its core offering, customers of Antibodies by Design are able to send their antigens for processing, and order an appropriate antibody format plus any of a number of other value-adding components. Leading the new unit is Dieter Lingelbach, who joined MorphoSys in April 2003 from Roche Diagnostics. At Roche Diagnostics he was responsible for global marketing and sales of research and industrial biochemicals. Mr. Lingelbach brings more than 20 years of professional experience in diagnostics sales and marketing, human health care, biotechnology, and management consulting. Ms. Joanne Crowe, previously International Marketing Director responsible for global marketing activities at Qiagen, joined the Antibodies by Design team in May 2003. Ms. Crowe has 8 years of international experience in biological research and more than 12 years of experience in marketing and marketing communications in the life science industry. “The value chain of MorphoSys, based on the HuCAL technology, is being expanded by a new link,” comments Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys AG. “I am particularly glad that we have succeeded in hiring two seasoned executives for the new business unit, both of whom have longstanding experience in strategic marketing and international sales of biological products and services.” “The approach of Antibodies by Design is adding value to the traditional MorphoSys business by penetrating wholly new markets with its innovative technology,” adds Dieter Lingelbach, Manager of Antibodies by Design and Senior Vice President of MorphoSys AG. Information on Antibodies by Design is available at www.antibodyservices.com. MorphoSys in brief: MorphoSys develops and applies technologies for the production of synthetic antibodies, which accelerate drug discovery and disease-related target molecules. The Company was founded in 1992 and has a wide range of innovative technologies, above all HuCAL, the Human Combinatorial Antibody Library, which is used by researchers worldwide for human antibody generation. The Company has collaborations with international pharmaceutical companies such as Bayer (Berkeley, California/USA), Biogen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany), Bristol-Myers Squibb (Wilmington, Delaware/USA), Centocor Inc. (Malvern, Pennsylvania/USA), GPC Biotech AG (Martinsried/Germany), Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Basel/Switzerland), ImmunoGen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Oridis Biomed GmbH (Graz/Austria), Pfizer Inc. (Delaware/USA), ProChon Biotech Ltd. (Rehovot/Israel), Schering AG (Berlin/Germany) and Xoma Ltd. (Berkeley, California/USA). Further information can be found on the Company’s website: 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. For more information, please contact MorphoSys: Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Löser, Manager Corporate Communications, Tel. +49 (0)89 89927 122, gutjahr@morphosys.com end of message, (c)DGAP 05.02.2004 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 663200; ISIN: DE0006632003; Index: Nemax 50 Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 050745 Feb 04