Boehringer Ingelheim extends Morphosys deal
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Boehringer Ingelheimhas exercised its option to useMorphosys's "rapid maturation" (RapMAT) technology for faster antibody optimisation as part of the existing agreement between the two companies. The two companies began the collaboration in 2003 and Morphosys has installed its HuCAL GOLD antibody library at Boehringer Ingelheim's research site in Vienna, Austria, in 2005. RapMAT improves the options for identifying antibodies from the HuCAL libraries and reduces the time for generation of promising therapeutic lead molecules. Morphosys will receive annual user fees for RapMAT and HuCAL, and Boeringer Ingelheim continues to have the option to receive multiple exclusive licences on new therapeutic antibody programmes. The collaboration currently covers four active therapeutic antibody programmes in various indications.