MorphoSys AG announced that Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals has reached the next milestone by initiating a phase I clinical trial with the HuCAL-derived antibody-drug conjugate BAY 94-9343 in the therapeutic area of oncology. This achievement marks the second clinical milestone within MorphoSys's alliance with Bayer HealthCare.

“Today's news underlines once again the substantial clinical output our partners have generated based on our HuCAL platform. Based on the number of clinical candidates in development we believe HuCAL to be the most successful antibody library technology in the pharmaceutical industry,” commented Dr Marlies Sproll, chief scientific officer of MorphoSys AG.

The current programme BAY 94-9343 is directed against the target molecule mesothelin. Mesothelin is highly expressed on mesotheliomas and on ovarian and pancreatic tumours. BAY 94-9343 is the second fully human HuCAL-based antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) to enter clinical trials. ADCs comprise antibodies linked to cytotoxic drugs, and combine the targeting properties of an antibody with the cell-destroying effect of a conjugated drug. In preclinical testing, BAY 94-9343 demonstrated potent, targeted anticancer activity against mesothelin-expressing tumours.

MorphoSys projected that in 2011 between one and three partnered programs could enter clinical trials. Today's news represents the second HuCAL-derived antibody to enter clinical development this year. In total, MorphoSys's clinical pipeline now comprises twelve partnered programs in phase I and five in phase II development as well as the company's proprietary programmes MOR103, which is in a phase I b/II a trial for rheumatoid arthritis, MOR208, which is in a phase I/II a trial for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and MOR202, which is in a phase I/IIa trial for multiple myeloma.

MorphoSys is an independent biotechnology company that develops novel antibodies for therapeutic, diagnostic and research applications.