MorphoSys AG announced that Schering-Plough Corporation has triggered its pre-existing option to extend the current collaboration between the two companies for another year. The partnership, which was initiated in May 2006, may be extended by Schering-Plough annually until 2011.

The agreement grants Schering-Plough continued access to MorphoSys's proprietary antibody library HuCAL GOLD at its research site, Schering-Plough Biopharma, in Palo Alto, California, and contains options for therapeutic licenses. For therapeutic antibody projects undertaken by Schering-Plough, MorphoSys is eligible to receive license fees, plus milestone payments relating to the successful advancement of projects in clinical development, and royalties on HuCAL antibodies developed under the agreement. Under the extended agreement, MorphoSys continues to receive annual user fees for access to its HuCAL platform. Further financial details were not disclosed.

"We are pleased with Schering-Plough's decision to extend the current collaboration," comments Dr Simon Moroney, chief executive officer of MorphoSys. "The news demonstrates once more the continued commitment of leading pharmaceutical companies worldwide to our HuCAL technology for their antibody-based drug development programmes."

MorphoSys is a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on the generation of fully human antibodies as a means to discover and develop innovative antibody-based drugs against life-threatening diseases.