MorphoSys AG has received a milestone payment from Novartis in connection with the initiation of a phase 1 clinical trial of a HuCAL antibody in the field of diabetic eye diseases. This becomes the ninth therapeutic antibody made using MorphoSys's technologies that Novartis is evaluating in clinical trials.

The official start of the clinical trial, which will be conducted in research centres in Australia, is pending final approval by regulatory authorities there.

"The clinical output of our strategic alliance with Novartis has been remarkable so far. We are looking forward to seeing more programmes with Novartis moving into the clinic in the months and years ahead," commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, chief scientific officer of MorphoSys AG. "We are also very pleased that this is the third ophthalmology programme within our collaboration to enter the clinical development stage."

MorphoSys's collaboration with Novartis has resulted in nine clinical programmes to date, four of which are in phase 1 development, with another four programmes in phase 2 and one in phase 3. In total, MorphoSys's partnered and proprietary clinical pipeline currently comprises 21 unique antibody molecules which are being evaluated in more than 50 clinical trials.