Sankyo Company Limited, wholly owned subsidiary of Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited, and MorphoSys AG have entered into a license agreement and therapeutic antibody collaboration for an initial two-year term with the option of an extension of up to three more years.

Under the terms of the agreement, Daiichi Sankyo commits to start one therapeutic antibody program with MorphoSys and receives an option for further programs. During the initial two-year term of the agreement, Daiichi Sankyo will have access to the MorphoSys HuCAL GOLD library at its research site in Tokyo. Additionally, MorphoSys will apply its proprietary HuCAL GOLD technology to generate antibodies against a target provided by Daiichi Sankyo. Subsequently, Daiichi Sankyo will be responsible for pre-clinical and clinical development, as well as the ensuing marketing of resulting products.

According to the release, MorphoSys stands to receive an upfront payment and research funding, plus licensing and milestone payments, as well as royalties on end-product sales. If extended after the initial two-year period, the contract provides Daiichi Sankyo with access to additional MorphoSys capabilities, such as target validation, antibody optimization and pre-clinical development. Such an extension would trigger an additional upfront payment and result in increased research funding for MorphoSys. Further financial details were not disclosed.

"We look forward to working closely with Daiichi Sankyo to develop novel antibody drugs," Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys said adding, "This new therapeutic partnership with one of the leading pharmaceutical groups in Japan once again shows the potential for innovative technology such as our HuCAL GOLD antibody library in this market."

HuCAL GOLD is the latest and most powerful antibody library developed by MorphoSys. The technology utilizes a unique concept for the in vitro generation of highly specific and fully human antibodies. It is ideally suited for a broad range of purposes reaching from target validation to drug development.