MorphoSys Announces Clinical Milestone from Strategic Alliance
Third HuCAL Antibody to Enter Clinical Trials in 2010
MorphoSys AG announced that it will receive a milestone payment from Novartis in connection with the initiation of a phase 1 clinical trial of a HuCAL-derived, fully human antibody in the therapeutic area of ophthalmology. The news marks the entry of the third HuCAL-derived antibody into human clinical trials in 2010, following the advancement of one program each from the alliances with Novartis and Centocor Ortho Biotech earlier this year.
"This promising new program is our first drug candidate in ophthalmology to enter the clinic, and underscores the range of indications we cover," commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG. "With three new clinical starts secured in 2010 we are on track to meet our expectations for the full year of up to six clinical milestones with various partners. Overall, the progress of HuCAL drug candidates into human clinical trials is accelerating."
MorphoSys projects that in 2010 between four and six partnered programs could enter clinical trials. With the recently announced in-licensing of an Fc-engineered antibody against CD19 from Xencor Inc., MorphoSys now expects up to 15 proprietary and partnered antibody programs to be in clinical trials by year-end, at least four of which should be in phase 2.
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