Commercial Development
Partnered Discovery – New Technology Platform Forms Basis for Additional Partnerships
In October 2010, MorphoSys announced the acquisition of Sloning BioTechnology GmbH, a private German biotechnology company developing new methods of synthetic biology. Sloning’s shareholders received a onetime € 19 million cash payment upon signing.
Based on the Sloning platform, MorphoSys was able to secure a long-term alliance with Pfizer in December 2010. The non-exclusive license and technology transfer agreement covers the installation and use of Sloning’s technology platform Slonomics at Pfizer’s subsidiary Rinat in South San Francisco as well as technical support. In return, the MorphoSys subsidiary receives an upfront payment and stands to receive annual license fees over the patent lifetime of the Slonomics technology platform. The new collaboration with Pfizer brought an immediate return-on-investment from the acquisition of Sloning for MorphoSys’s shareholders.
As another direct result of the transaction, MorphoSys launched a novel antibody optimization platform called arYla in November 2010. MorphoSys intends to apply the technology in its own programs as well as within existing and new partnerships.
Proprietary Development – New Program against Drug-resistant MRSA Infections
MorphoSys’s proprietary drug development remains focused on the indications cancer and inflammatory diseases. However, in September 2010, MorphoSys announced an additional proprietary development program against novel infectious disease targets. As part of this initiative, MorphoSys has signed a license and collaboration agreement with UK-based Absynth Biologics, providing access to novel target molecules associated with Staphylococcus aureus infections including MRSA (methicillin-resistant S. aureus). MorphoSys will generate antibodies which Absynth will test in relevant disease models. MorphoSys is solely responsible for the development and partnering of the resulting compounds. Absynth has received an upfront payment and is eligible for development-dependent milestone payments and royalties.
Absynth's genomics-based approach allows identification of previously overlooked targets, such as bacterial components which are crucial to the organism, conserved across different bacterial strains and accessible for antibodies. Absynth has demonstrated that monoclonal antibodies against the targets in-licensed by MorphoSys inhibit the growth of S. aureus and recruit the human immune system to eliminate bacteria. Absynth has filed patent applications on all targets involved in the collaboration.
MorphoSys’s goal is to create a valuable package of proprietary targets together with high-affinity antibodies, supported by compelling data, which will allow the Company to partner the program for subsequent development. The targets identified by Absynth provide a unique opportunity to generate value rather quickly and create out-licensing opportunities much earlier than in the areas of cancer and inflammation.
AbD Serotec – Exclusive Products in Key Areas
In 2010, AbD Serotec continued to expand its customer relationships in key focus areas and signed a number of exclusive license agreements covering key products in their offering. In the diagnostics market, AbD Serotec secured an exclusive worldwide license to a key diagnostic antibody from University College London. The antibody, targeting the parathyroid hormone (PTH), forms the basis of an existing relationship between AbD Serotec and a leading diagnostic company which markets clinical parathyroid hormone assays. PTH is the most important regulator of calcium levels in the human body. Measurement of PTH is important in determining the cause of excessively high or low calcium levels and is a valuable diagnostic tool during parathyroid surgery.
On the research side of the business, in September 2010, AbD Serotec secured an exclusive worldwide manufacturing license to key research antibodies from VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam. The deal strengthened AbD Serotec’s position as the primary source of reagents for studying the innate immune system. In November 2010, AbD Serotec secured a similar license agreement with the Institute of Cancer Research, London, strengthening its position as source of core reagents to study cell proliferation and cell kinetics.