MorphoSys Announces Acquisition of Sloning
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Combination of Technologies Set to Increase Success Rates in Drug Development
MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) announced today the acquisition of the private German company Sloning BioTechnology GmbH, a biotechnology company developing new methods of synthetic biology. The transaction will make MorphoSys the sole source of Sloning's state-of-the-art Slonomics technology, which dramatically improves the assembly and quality of protein libraries. By integrating Slonomics into its existing antibody technology platform, MorphoSys expects to improve the generation of drug candidates such that one in every two projects started reaches clinical development. The technology will also be used to accelerate the generation of both therapeutic and diagnostic antibodies. Sloning's shareholders received a one-off EUR 19 million cash payment upon signing.
"This acquisition secures our position at the forefront of antibody technology," commented Dr Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys AG. "Sloning's unique technology is the most powerful method available for assembling protein libraries and has been proven to deliver superior products for a range of applications. We plan to use it to generate optimized antibodies much faster than can be done today and also to gain access to antibodies that simply can't be made with current technologies."
Sloning's patented core technology enables the precise construction of protein libraries comprising defined mixtures of amino acids at pre-determined positions with unprecedented speed. This technology opens the way to a new and flexible approach to generating optimized proteins, such as antibodies.
"Current antibody generation technologies use an initial repertoire, which largely determines the properties of the resulting antibody. We intend to use Slonomics as the basis of a fundamentally different approach, which will rapidly test multiple generations of antibodies, equivalent to screening many billions of molecules, to isolate the best possible candidate", stated Dr Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG. "We expect to shorten the time needed to generate an antibody drug candidate by a third and even more importantly, to increase the proportion of programs reaching clinical development to 50%."
Sloning, founded in 2001, is a private company based in Puchheim, near Munich. The major shareholders are HBM BioVentures, KfW, LBBW Venture Capital and Deutsche Effecten- und Wechsel-Beteiligungsgesellschaft. The company has developed and refined its proprietary technologies through collaborations with a number of pharmaceutical and industrial customers.
"We believe that the two companies' technology portfolios and extensive expertise will lead to superior therapeutic, diagnostic and industrial products," commented the Chief Executive Officer of Sloning, Dr Heinz Schwer, who will join MorphoSys, becoming a member of the senior management team.
"MorphoSys has the financial resources required to fully exploit the potential and capabilities of the Sloning technology platform and there is a strong fit in the culture of both companies," complements Dr Harald Poth, chairman of Sloning's advisory board.
Sloning's financial results will be fully consolidated into MorphoSys's accounts from today onwards. Today's transaction is not material in respect of MorphoSys's financial guidance for 2010.
MorphoSys will hold a public conference call tomorrow, October 08, at 02:00 p.m. CEST (08:00 a.m. EDT, 01:00 p.m. BST) to present key information on the acquisition of Sloning.
Dial-in number for the Conference Call (listen-only):
Germany: +49 (0) 89 24443 2975
For U.K. residents: +44 (0) 20 3003 2666
For U.S. residents: +1 212 999 6659
Please dial in 10 minutes before the beginning of the conference.
In addition, MorphoSys offers participants the opportunity to follow the presentation through a simultaneous slide presentation online at www.morphosys.com
A live webcast, slides, webcast replay and transcript will be made available at www.morphosys.com
Approximately two hours after the press conference, a slide-synchronized audio replay of the conference will be available on www.morphosys.com
Save the dates: MorphoSys's R&D Day 2010
London - Thursday, November 25, 2010
New York - Monday, November 29, 2010
About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys is an independent biotechnology company that develops novel antibodies for therapeutic, diagnostic and research applications. The Company's HuCAL technology is one of the most powerful methods available for generating fully human antibodies. By successfully applying this and other proprietary technologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeutic antibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human health-care. Through its alliances with some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, MorphoSys has created a pipeline of more than 60 drug candidates. The Company is expanding its drug pipeline by adding new partnered programs, and by building a portfolio of fully-owned therapeutic antibodies. For its proprietary portfolio, the Company is focused on the areas of oncology and inflammation. Its most advanced program MOR103, a first-in-class, fully human antibody against GM-CSF, is currently tested in a Phase Ib/IIa trial in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Via its business unit AbD Serotec, MorphoSys is expanding the reach of its technologies in the diagnostics and research markets. MorphoSys is headquartered in Munich, Germany and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "MOR". For further information, visit www.morphosys.com/
For more information, please contact:
MorphoSys AG
Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Loser
Head of Corporate Communications & IR
Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-122
Mario Brkulj
Senior Manager Corporate Communications & IR
Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-454
Jessica Kulpi
Specialist Corporate Communications & IR
Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-332
investors@morphosys.com
