OREANDA-NEWS. MorphoSys AG announced today that it has received a milestone payment from Novartis in connection with the initiation of a clinical phase 1 trial with a novel HuCAL antibody. The antibody will be tested in the field of prevention of thrombosis. This is the twelfth therapeutic antibody based on MorphoSys's technologies that Novartis is evaluating in clinical trials. Financial details were not disclosed.

"We are very pleased that another program from our collaboration with Novartis has entered the clinical development stage," commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG. "During 2016, the MorphoSys pipeline has matured significantly and currently includes more programs in clinical trials than ever before. This again reflects the tremendous value of MorphoSys's technologies and the resulting products, both in our partnered and proprietary pipeline."

MorphoSys's collaboration with Novartis has resulted in twelve clinical programs to date. In total, MorphoSys's proprietary and partnered clinical pipeline currently comprises 27 unique antibody molecules, which are being evaluated in more than 60 active clinical trials.

About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys developed HuCAL, the most successful antibody library technology in the pharmaceutical industry. By successfully applying this and other patented technologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeutic antibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human healthcare.
Together with its pharmaceutical partners, MorphoSys has built a therapeutic pipeline of more than 100 human antibody drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer's disease, to name just a few. With its ongoing commitment to new antibody technology and drug development, MorphoSys is focused on making the healthcare products of tomorrow. MorphoSys is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol MOR.