MorphoSys and WACKER Expand Cooperation to Use WACKER's ESETEC® Technology for Production of Antigen
(Thomson Reuters ONE) - MorphoSys AG / MorphoSys and WACKER Expand Cooperation to Use WACKER's ESETEC® Technology for Production of Antigen Material processed and transmitted by Hugin AS. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) and Wacker Chemie AGannounced today an expansion of their existing cooperation in the use ofWACKER's bacterial secretion technology ESETEC®. As a result, MorphoSys willnow be able to use the WACKER technology for the production of antigen materialin addition to the production of antibodies in both the early development phaseof therapeutic projects as well as in the production of diagnostic and researchantibodies. The technology complements MorphoSys's existing productionplatforms. It could offer significant advantages with regard to the productionof novel antigens, which have proven difficult to produce with conventionalexpression systems."The use of WACKER's secretion technology for antigen production allows us toapproach development programs where the production of the disease-relevanttarget molecule represents a major challenge. This could offer us and ourpartners a head-start in therapeutic projects against novel drug targetsincluding bacterial antigens in current and future infectious disease programs",explained Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer at MorphoSys AG. InOctober 2009, MorphoSys signed a first alliance focused on the discovery anddevelopment of therapeutic antibodies for hospital-acquired infections withDaiichi Sankyo."The extension of our existing collaboration with MorphoSys underpins thesuccess of our protein production technology ESETEC®" said Dr. Thomas Maier,Managing Director at Wacker Biotech GmbH, Wacker Chemie AG's subsidiary forcustom manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals. "Since we introduced this innovationto the biopharmaceutical market we see that more and more companies revisit E.coli as production host to benefit from shorter development timelines", headded.The patented ESETEC® secretion system from WACKER, which is based on E. coli, isa tried-and-tested technology for the cost-effective production of proteinsincluding antibody fragments. The system comprises a specific E. coli straindeveloped and patented by WACKER which is able to secrete recombinant proteinsin their native conformation into the culture medium during fermentation. Thisextra-cellular production makes it easier to purify the recombinant products,and the expensive process step of refolding is also dispensed with. This meansthe entire production is much more efficient and cost-effective. WACKER andMorphoSys entered into an initial feasibility study agreement for the use of theWACKER secretion technology for the production of antibodies in 2005. Due tosignificant success, this agreement was supplemented in 2008 with a formallicense to use the WACKER technology.About MorphoSys:MorphoSys is an independent biotechnology company that develops novel antibodiesfor therapeutic, diagnostic and research applications. The Company's HuCALtechnology is one of the most powerful methods available for generating fullyhuman antibodies. By successfully applying this and other proprietarytechnologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeuticantibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human health-care.Through its alliances with some of the world'sleading pharmaceutical companies,MorphoSys has created a pipeline of more than 60 drug candidates. The Company isexpanding its drug pipeline by adding new partnered programs, and by building aportfolio of fully-owned therapeutic antibodies. For its proprietary portfolio,the Company is focused on the areas of oncology and inflammation. Its mostadvanced program MOR103, a first-in-class, fully human antibody against GM-CSF,is currently tested in a Phase Ib/IIa trial in rheumatoid arthritis patients.Via its business unit AbD Serotec, MorphoSys is expanding the reach of itstechnologies in the diagnostics and research markets. MorphoSys is headquarteredin Munich, Germany and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol"MOR". For further information, visit http://www.morphosys.com/HuCAL®, HuCAL GOLD®, HuCAL PLATINUM® and RapMAT® are registered trademarks ofMorphoSys AGAbout Wacker BiotechWacker Biotech GmbH is a full-service contract manufacturer ofbiopharmaceuticals derived from microbial systems. Its portfolio ranges fromservices in molecular biology, analytical and process development, through theGMP-compliant production of clinical test material, to active pharmaceuticalingredient for commercial market supply. Above all, Wacker Biotech offersproprietary technologies that satisfy market needs for cost-efficient andhigh-quality production. Two examples are itsE. coli-based secretion technologyand its high-cell-density fermentation technology DENSETEC®. Wacker Biotech,Jena, is a wholly-owned WACKER subsidiary. Further information on Wacker BiotechGmbH is available at www.wacker.com/biologics
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Datum: 20.01.2010 - 01:30 Uhr
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