MorphoSys AG and The Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research, a unit of Temple University's School of Pharmacy, Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania, USA, announced a strategic alliance focused on the discovery of new therapeutic antibodies.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Moulder Center will receive access to MorphoSys's Ylanthia technology for use in validating new disease-related targets and generating therapeutic antibody candidates. MorphoSys will receive an exclusive option to develop any resulting antibodies. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

The Ylanthia library will be installed at Temple's Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research, a multidisciplinary research hub for the further development of scientific discoveries identified by Temple University faculty and scientists, as well as its external academic and industrial partners, into novel therapies. Its Biotherapeutics Discovery Unit under the leadership of Dr Jon Condra is dedicated to working on drug design and lead optimization in multiple disease areas, including cancer, Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular, metabolic and viral diseases.

"We are very much looking forward to cooperating with MorphoSys. Having already worked with their technologies in my former position in Merck's Department of Biologics Research, I know about the excellent quality of MorphoSys's antibody libraries and the company's development capabilities," said Dr. Condra, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at Temple and a member of the Moulder Center. "The highly specific and fully human antibodies we will be able to generate with Ylanthia will form the ideal basis to discover new therapeutic agents. Collaborations with a strong industrial partner like MorphoSys contribute substantially to the scientific advancement of drug discovery and development."

"In enhancing our facilities and capabilities at the Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research, we are focused on efficiently generating research data using a host of technologies and tools," said Dr. Magid Abou-Gharbia, Associate Dean for Research in Temple's School of Pharmacy and Director of the Moulder Center. "Our new collaborative effort with MorphoSys will provide our faculty, staff, and students with the cutting-edge scientific tools necessary to identify the next generation of antibody therapeutics."

"The collaboration with Temple embeds our latest technology, Ylanthia, in the scientific community and has the potential to expand our pipeline of exciting new drug candidates in the long term", commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG.  "Access to novel disease-related target molecules is a key asset for any biopharmaceutical company and this alliance leverages our Ylanthia technology to source potentially interesting antibody leads for therapeutic applications."

MorphoSys developed HuCAL, the most successful antibody library technology in the pharmaceutical industry. By successfully applying this and other patented technologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeutic antibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human healthcare.

The Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research was established in 2008 as a multidisciplinary drug discovery research hub in the Temple University School of Pharmacy. Equipped with unique capabilities and experienced scientists, the Center is actively pursuing collaborative research opportunities within Temple University and with external collaborators in the academic community, as well as industrial partners both in the US and abroad.