MorphoSys Issued U.S. Patent for HuCAL(R) EST Technology MARTINSRIED, Germany and MUNICH, Germany, Nov. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- - MorphoSys AG (OTC Bulletin Board: MPHSF; Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MOR; Prime Standard Segment) announced today that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has granted the Company a new patent covering its proprietary HuCAL(R) EST technology. The U.S. patent (U.S. 6,653,068) entitled "Generation of Specific Binding Partners to (Poly)Peptides Encoded by Genomic DNA Fragments or ESTs" covers methods for the high-level production of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) as fusion proteins and subsequent generation of HuCAL(R) antibodies against these proteins. The application on which the patent was based was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office in 2000. Related patent applications are pending in all major jurisdictions. In addition, MorphoSys has recently received several notifications of allowance for further patent applications in the U.S., in Australia and in Europe. Those patents provide an extended protection of the MorphoSys HuCAL(R) technology and enlarge the area of application for the MorphoSys technologies. "The granting of the HuCAL(R) EST patent further strengthens our patent portfolio, commented Dr. Thomas von Ruden, Chief Scientific Officer at MorphoSys AG. "HuCAL(R) EST is a unique technology, supporting researchers in the area of target validation and genomics research and we apply this technology in collaborations with several partners including Biogen, Centocor, Oridis Biomed and Schering." Over the last few years MorphoSys has built a strong intellectual property portfolio around its proprietary technology, HuCAL(R) (Human Combinatorial Antibody Library). To date, MorphoSys has six patents granted and more than 40 applications pending worldwide. The patents and pending applications cover a variety of different technologies, including antibody libraries, screening methods, certain antibody fragment formats and specific antibodies. About MorphoSys: MorphoSys develops and applies innovative technologies for the production of synthetic antibodies, which accelerate drug discovery and target characterization. Founded in 1992, the Company's proprietary Human Combinatorial Antibody Library (HuCAL(R)) technology is used by researchers worldwide for human antibody generation. The Company currently has licensing and research collaborations with Bayer (Berkeley, California/USA), Biogen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany), Bristol-Myers Squibb (Wilmington, Delaware/USA), Centocor Inc. (Malvern, Pennsylvania/USA), California/USA), GPC Biotech AG (Munich/Germany), Hoffmann- La Roche AG (Basel/Switzerland), ImmunoGen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Oridis Biomed GmbH (Graz/Austria), ProChon Biotech Ltd. (Rehovot/Israel), Schering AG (Berlin/Germany) and Xoma Ltd. (Berkeley, California/USA). For further information please visit the corporate website at: http://www.morphosys.com/. Statements included in this press release which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the safe harbour provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the company's future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may affect future operations and business prospects include, but are not limited to, clinical and scientific results and developments concerning corporate collaborations and the company's proprietary rights and other factors described in the prospectus relating to the company's recent public offering. DATASOURCE: MorphoSys AG CONTACT: Dave Lemus, Chief Financial Officer, +49-89-899-27-439, or fax: +49-89-899 27-5439, or ; or Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Loeser, +49-89-899 27-122, or Fax: +49-89-899-27-5122, or , both of MorphoSys Web Site: http://www.morphosys.com/

Copyright