MorphoSys and Galapagos to develop antibody therapies in bone and joint disease

MorphoSys and Galapagos are to work together on developing antibody therapies in bone and joint disease, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

The alliance spans all activities from target discovery through to completion of clinical trials. Both companies will contribute technologies and expertise to the alliance.

Belgian drug discovery company Galapagos will provide antibody targets implicated in bone and joint disease to discover further targets for antibody development. MorphoSys, a global biotechnology company, will contribute its HuCAL antibody technologies to generate fully human antibodies directed against these targets.

The initial goal is to further validate the targets through disease-specific in vitro and in vivo testing of the antibodies. After successful validation, the alliance will select antibody programmes for pre-clinical and clinical development.

Under the terms of the agreement, Galapagos and MorphoSys will share equally the research and development costs and all future revenues.

An initial set of three targets implicated in bone and joint disease has been selected for the collaboration, and Galapagos has started producing these proteins for the alliance.

Generation of antibodies directed against these targets will start in 2009. If successful, the first antibody programmes based on these targets could enter the clinic within four to five years.

"With this alliance, we are adding a biologics strategy to our small molecule drug discovery," said Onno van de Stolpe, chief executive of Galapagos. "This alliance with MorphoSys enables us to explore the potential of proprietary antibody targets. Antibody approaches have proven to be successful in developing new therapies for major diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. Having both approaches, small molecules and antibodies, to fill our product pipeline in bone and joint disease will further establish Galapagos as the leader in this field."

Dr Simon Moroney, chief executive of MorphoSys said: "This alliance represents a major step in our efforts to gain access to novel antibody targets for proprietary drug development in disease areas with a high unmet medical need. It also complements our development efforts in the field of inflammation and arthritis including our lead programme MOR103."

The three main indications of bone and joint disease - rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis - affect several million people worldwide. Sales of drug treatments were more than $15bn in 2006.

In 2007, total sales for the 20 antibody drugs on the market amounted to more than $25bn and antibody sales are forecast to increase to approximately $50bn in 2013.