Dear Shareholders,
At the occasion of the year-end press conference in February, MorphoSys presented plans on how it intends to expand its proprietary pipeline. The Company is committed to accelerate in-house drug development over the course of 2009 and will invest € 18 to € 20 million into this important future value driver in this year. As a result of the planned activities MorphoSys's proprietary pipeline at year-end could consist of up to eight programs in total. The Company’s most advanced compound MOR103 is expected to enter a phase 1b/2a clinical trial in the second half of 2009.
Additionally, on the partnered side of MorphoSys’s Therapeutic Antibodies segment, Novartis advanced the HuCAL-based antibody program BHQ880 into a phase 1b/2a clinical trial. As a result, two of the Company’s partnered compounds, BHQ880 and an antibody program with its partner Centocor, are now in phase 2 clinical trials.
In the AbD segment MorphoSys announced the appointment of a new head for the unit, Dieter Feger. Mr. Feger joined MorphoSys from Abbott Diagnostics, where he headed global marketing for Abbott in infectious diseases, which in turn will help underpin the AbD segment’s efforts, particularly on the diagnostics side of its business. In financial terms, the first quarter was a strong one for AbD with a revenue growth of 14% compared to the prior year.
On a Group level, revenues for the first three months ended March 31, 2009 were broadly in line with the Company’s expectations at € 19.1 million, a 17% increase over the same period in the previous year while operating profits came in at € 4.2 million.
Thank you for your continued interest and support of MorphoSys.
Sincerely yours,
Dave Lemus
Chief Financial Officer
MorphoSys AG