MorphoSys and Galapagos Advance Joint Antibody Program in Inflammatory Diseases into Preclinical Development

Martinsreid/Munich, Germany and Mechelen, Belgium; 23 July 2014 - MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX; OTC: MPSYY) and Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG; OTC: GLPYY) announced today that the first program from their strategic alliance has advanced into preclinical development. MOR106 was realized based on a novel Galapagos target and MorphoSys' next-generation antibody library Ylanthia and will now be jointly developed in inflammatory diseases.

"It is gratifying that the first development program from our alliance with Galapagos has entered the preclinical development stage.  The novel mode of action for MOR106 remains undisclosed. Furthermore, we are applying Ylanthia in a growing number of existing and new alliances and an increasing proportion of our pipeline is based on this next-generation platform," commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG.

"Our SilenceSelect target discovery platform delivered the novel target against which this antibody is directed.  MOR106 is the first antibody in the pipeline of Galapagos, and we are excited to develop this program further in close collaboration with our friends at MorphoSys," commented Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos.

MOR106 arises from the alliance initiated by Galapagos and MorphoSys in 2008, in which both companies contribute their core technologies and expertise. Galapagos provides the disease-related biology including the target and cellular assays. The targets are discovered using Galapagos' SilenceSelect adenoviral target discovery platform. MorphoSys contributes its Ylanthia antibody technology to generate fully human antibodies directed against the target. Galapagos and MorphoSys will continue to share equally the research and development costs, as well as all future revenues.

About MorphoSys
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.  Together with its pharmaceutical partners, MorphoSys has built a therapeutic pipeline of more than 80 human antibody drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer's disease, to name just a few. With its ongoing commitment to new antibody technology and drug development, MorphoSys is focused on making the healthcare products of tomorrow. MorphoSys is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol MOR. For regular updates about MorphoSys, visit http://www.morphosys.com.