MorphoSys AG and Galapagos NV announced that the first programme from their strategic alliance has advanced into preclinical development. MOR106 was realised based on a novel Galapagos target and MorphoSys' next-generation antibody library Ylanthia and will now be jointly developed in inflammatory diseases.

"It is gratifying that the first development programme from our alliance with Galapagos has entered the preclinical development stage. The novel mode of action for MOR106 remains undisclosed. Furthermore, we are applying Ylanthia in a growing number of existing and new alliances and an increasing proportion of our pipeline is based on this next-generation platform," commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, chief scientific officer of MorphoSys AG.

"Our SilenceSelect target discovery platform delivered the novel target against which this antibody is directed.  MOR106 is the first antibody in the pipeline of Galapagos, and we are excited to develop this programme further in close collaboration with our friends at MorphoSys," commented Onno van de Stolpe,  chief executive officer, of Galapagos.

MOR106 arises from the alliance initiated by Galapagos and MorphoSys in 2008, in which both companies contribute their core technologies and expertise. Galapagos provides the disease-related biology including the target and cellular assays. The targets are discovered using Galapagos' SilenceSelect adenoviral target discovery platform. MorphoSys contributes its Ylanthia antibody technology to generate fully human antibodies directed against the target. Galapagos and MorphoSys will continue to equally share the research and development costs, as well as all future revenues.