Press Release Martinsried/Munich, July 30, 2001
MorphoSys achieves Second Milestone in GPC Biotech Collaboration
MorphoSys (Neuer Markt: MOR) and GPC Biotech (Neuer Markt: GPC) today announced achievement of a preclinical milestone in GPC Biotech’s immunology antibody program for the treatment of transplant rejection and Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD). GPC Biotech showed that a human antibody generated and optimized by MorphoSys from its proprietary HuCAL® library had significant in vivo efficacy in a transgenic animal model. On July 19, 2001, MorphoSys and GPC Biotech announced in vivo efficacy of an antibody in their cancer collaboration.
The milestone triggers an additional payment from GPC Biotech to MorphoSys. No financial details were disclosed.
The fully human antibody generated by MorphoSys showed high affinity for the MHC class II target and was selected for in vivo studies because it efficiently suppressed human T-helper cell responses in vitro. A single injection of the antibody, administered to transgenic mice carrying the human MHC class II target molecule, was shown to efficiently suppress skin hypersensitivity reactions in these mice. GPC Biotech is currently assessing this antibody in transgenic mouse-based transplantation models.
Thomas von Rueden, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys, said, ”this is the second success in our collaboration with GPC Biotech demonstrating efficacy in animal models, and is further confirmation of our ability to make drug-quality human antibodies. The antibody involved in this program was tailored to have certain properties. Utilizing the unique optimization features inherent in our HuCAL® technology made this possible.”
Zoltan Nagy, DVM, Ph.D., V.P. Immunology of GPC Biotech said, “since MHC class II is an entirely new target in the immunosuppressive arena, we are very pleased to see in vivo efficacy of this antibody. Targeting of MHC class II molecules with this novel antibody will allow us to selectively suppress parts of the immune system, and thereby avoid some of the immunological side effects characteristic of most currently available broad immunosuppressants.”
MorphoSys develops and applies innovative technologies for the production of synthetic antibodies, which accelerate drug discovery and target characterization. Founded in 1992, the Company's proprietary Human Combinatorial Antibody Library (HuCAL®) technology is used by researchers worldwide for human antibody generation. The Company currently has licensing and research collaborations with Bayer (Berkeley, California/USA), Biogen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Centocor Inc. (Malvern, Pennsylvania/USA), Chiron Corp. (Emeryville, California/USA), DuPont Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Wilmington, Delaware/USA), Eos Biotechnology Inc. (San Francisco, California/USA), GPC Biotech AG (Munich/Germany), Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Basel/Switzerland), ImmunoGen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Millennium Inc. (Cambridge, Mass/USA) and ProChon Biotech Ltd. (Rehovot/Israel). For further information please visit the corporate website at: http://www.morphosys.com.
GPC Biotech AG is a genomics- and proteomics-driven drug discovery company focused on applying a number of proprietary genomic, proteomic and drug discovery technologies to accelerate the identification and validation of novel drug targets for development of mechanism-based drugs in oncology, infectious diseases and immunology. GPC Biotech has leading cell cycle expertise and a broad intellectual property position with 59 patents issued, that are wholly owned, co-owned or exclusively/co-exclusively licensed, and over 180 patents pending. Drug discovery alliance partners include: Aventis Pharma (PAVE.PSE), Bayer AG (BAY.FSE), DuPont Pharmaceuticals (DD-B.NYS), Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, the Altana AG (ALT.FSE) subsidiary Byk Gulden, Cell Genesys, Inc. (CEGE.NAS), Evotec OAI AG (EVT.FSE), MorphoSys AG (MOR.FSE) and Karo Bio USA (KARO.SSE). GPC Biotech AG is headquartered in Martinsried/Munich (Germany) with two wholly owned US subsidiaries in Waltham/Boston, MA and in Princeton, NJ. For further information, please visit the corporate website at: http://www.gpc-biotech.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.
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