MorphoSys moves step closer to rheumatoid arthritis antibody

Published: 18-Aug-2006

MorphoSys of Germany has signed a second license agreement with Dutch biotechnology company Crucell, allowing it to use the PER.C6 cell line in the production of material for the development of its proprietary therapeutic antibody programme MOR103.


MorphoSys of Germany has signed a second license agreement with Dutch biotechnology company Crucell, allowing it to use the PER.C6 cell line in the production of material for the development of its proprietary therapeutic antibody programme MOR103.

MOR103 is a fully human antibody, developed in the area of inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis using MorphoSys' own Human Combinatorial Antibody Library (HuCAL) technology.

The company has also signed a biopharmaceutical manufacturing agreement with DSM biologics to produce the clinical grade material in its FDA-approved facilities in Groningen, the Netherlands.

"Today's news shows that MorphoSys's MOR103 programme is on track towards the next development stage - the filing of an IND in the second half of 2007," said Dr Marlies Sproll, chief scientific officer of MorphoSys. "This collaboration brings together a fully human antibody to treat inflammatory diseases with production capabilities in the same fully-human environment. Manufacturing human antibodies in such a manner, offers several potential advantages over alternative production methods, especially when targeting chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis."

Several of Crucell's own products are based on its PER.C6 production technology.The company licenses this and other technologies to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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