MorphoSys, Schering-Plough Sign R&D Agreement

MorphoSys AG has signed an initial two-year license agreement with Schering-Plough Corp. for the use of MorphoSys’s HuCAL GOLD technology in the R&D of human therapeutic antibodies. Under the terms of the agreement, MorphoSys will grant access to its proprietary antibody library to SP for use in its drug discovery programs at one research site. The contract provides SP with the option to develop HuCAL-derived therapeutic antibodies against as many as 10 disease-related targets.

According to the agreement, MorphoSys will receive an upfront payment, annual user fees and optional R&D funding. For therapeutic antibody projects undertaken by SP, MorphoSys is eligible to receive license and milestone payments related to the successful advancement of projects in clinical development, and royalties on HuCAL antibodies developed under the agreement. Further financial details were not disclosed.

During the initial two-year term of the agreement, which also provides SP with the option of an extension of as many as three more years, MorphoSys’s HuCAL GOLD antibody library will be installed at SP’s research site in Palo Alto, CA, the location of Schering-Plough Biopharma, an affiliate of Schering-Plough Research Institute.

“The agreement signed today is our twelfth with a top 20 pharmaceutical company,” commented Dr. Simon Moroney, chief executive officer of MorphoSys. “This deal marks further progress in the successful execution of our strategy to strengthen the pipeline of therapeutic antibodies based on our proprietary technology through strategic deals with quality partners.”