Glossary

  • A

    Amyloid beta
    Target molecule in Alzheimer’s disease therapy; main constituent of amyloid plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients
    Antigen
    Foreign substance stimulating antibody production; binding partner of antibody
    ADCC
    Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity; a mechanism of cell-mediated immunity whereby an effector cell of the immune system actively destroys a target cell that has been bound by specific antibodies
    Antibody
    Proteins of the immune system that recognize antigens thereby triggering an immune response
    Antibody library
    A collection of genes that encode corresponding human antibodies
    Autoimmune disease
    Disease caused by an immune response by the body against one of its own tissues, cells, or molecules

  • B

    Biosimilars
    Term used to describe officially approved new versions of innovator biopharmaceutical products, following patent expiry

  • C

    Cash flow
    Key performance indicator in the cash flow statement used to assess the financial and earning capacity
    CD20
    Therapeutic target for the treatment of B-cell lymphomas and leukemias
    CD38
    Therapeutic target for the treatment of multiple myeloma and certain leukemias
    Clinical trial
    Clinical trials allow safety and efficacy data to be collected for new drugs or devices. Depending on the type of product and the stage of its development, investigators enroll healthy volunteers and/or patients into small pilot studies initially, followed by larger scale studies in patients
    CLL
    Chronic lymphocytic leukemia; most common type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow, affecting the B cells
    COGS
    Cost of goods sold; costs for antibody material produced by the AbD segment

  • E

    EMA
    European Medicines Agency

  • F

    FDA
    Food and Drug Administration; U.S. Federal Agency for the Supervision of Food and Drugs

  • G

    GCP
    Good clinical practice; an international ethical and scientific quality standard for designing, conducting, recording and reporting trials that involve the participation of human subjects
    GM-CSF
    Granulocyte colonystimulating factor; underlying target molecule of MOR103 program
    GMP
    Good management practice; term for the control and management of manufacturing and quality control testing of pharmaceutical products and medical devices
    Goodwill
    An intangible asset that reflects the value of a company’s name and reputation, its customer relations, and other factors influencing its standing and competitiveness

  • H

    HGB
    German accounting standards
    HuCAL
    Human Combinatorial Antibody Library. Proprietary antibody library enabling rapid generation of specific human antibodies for all applications (explanation of GOLD/Platinum)
    Human
    Of human origin

  • I

    IFRS
    International Financial Reporting Standards; future EU-wide standards produced by the IASB
    Immunization
    Generation of antibodies by administering antigen
    in-vitro
    In a test tube
    in-vivo
    In a living organism

  • L

    Life sciences
    All branches of science that study all organisms, es­pecially living ones

  • M

    Macrophage
    White blood cell that ingests foreign material. Macrophages are key players in the immune response to foreign invaders such as infectious microorganisms
    Market capitalization
    Value of a company’s outstanding shares, as measured by shares times current price
    M&A
    Mergers & Acquisitions
    Milestone
    Predefined events relating to the development of the substance into a drug
    Monoclonal antibody
    Homogeneous antibody originating from a single clone, produced by hybridoma cell
    MRSA
    Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus; type of bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics and causing severe infections; occurs most frequently among patients in healthcare settings
    Multiple myeloma
    Type of cancer that develops in a subset of white blood cells called plasma cells formed in the bone marrow
    Multiple sclerosis
    Disease of the central nervous system characterized by the destruction of nerve fibers

  • N

    NIH
    National Institutes of Health; part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research

  • O

    Osteolysis
    Dissolution or degeneration of bone tissue through disease

  • P

    Phage-display-technology
    Screening technology; presentation of peptides/proteins of surface of phages
    Pharmacokinetics
    Determination of the fate of substances administered externally to a living organism
    Plaque psoriasis
    Most common form of psoriasis, a chronic, non-conta­gious autoimmune disease which affects the skin and joints
    Preclinic
    Preclinical stage of drug development; tests in animal models as well as in laboratory essays
    Protein
    Polymer consisting of amino acids, e. g., antibodies, enzymes

  • R

    RapMAT
    Maturation process; proprietary technology of MorphoSys
    R & D
    Research and Development
    Reagent
    A substance used in research and diagnostic applications
    Rheumatoid arthritis
    Inflammatory disease of the joints; abbreviation: RA
    Royalties
    Percentage share of ownership of the revenue generated by drug products

  • S

    S, G & A
    Sales, general and administrative
    Specificity
    Property of e. g. anti­bodies to discriminate between different, but similar, antigens

  • T

    Target
    Target molecule for thera­peutic intervention, e. g. on surface of diseased cell
    TecDAX
    Index of the thirty largest technology companies listed at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange