MorphoSys AG announced that it has received a milestone payment from Novartis in connection with the initiation of a clinical phase 1 trial with a novel HuCAL antibody. The antibody will be tested in the field of prevention of thrombosis. This is the twelfth therapeutic antibody based on MorphoSys's technologies that Novartis is evaluating in clinical trials. Financial details were not disclosed.

"We are very pleased that another programme from our collaboration with Novartis has entered the clinical development stage," commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, chief scientific officer of MorphoSys AG. "During 2016, the MorphoSys pipeline has matured significantly and currently includes more programmes in clinical trials than ever before. This again reflects the tremendous value of MorphoSys's technologies and the resulting products, both in our partnered and proprietary pipeline."

MorphoSys's collaboration with Novartis has resulted in twelve clinical programmes to date. In total, MorphoSys's proprietary and partnered clinical pipeline currently comprises 27 unique antibody molecules, which are being evaluated in more than 60 active clinical trials.