MARTINSRIED, GERMANY and MUNICH, GERMANY--(Marketwire - Jul 5, 2012) - MorphoSys AG's (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) partner OncoMed Pharmaceuticals today announced that Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) has published online data demonstrating the potent anti-cancer activity of OMP-18R5, a HuCAL antibody targeting the Wnt pathway, in multiple preclinical human tumor models. OMP- 18R5 is currently in Phase 1 clinical testing.

The Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, which signals through the Frizzled (Fzd) receptor family and several co-receptors, has long been implicated in cancer. OncoMed researchers identified a novel therapeutic approach to targeting the Wnt pathway with a monoclonal antibody. OMP-18R5, initially identified by binding to Frizzled 7, interacts with key Fzd receptors through a conserved epitope within the extracellular domain and thereby inhibits canonical Wnt signaling induced by multiple Wnt family members. In xenograft studies with minimally passaged human tumors, OMP-18R5 inhibits the growth of a range of tumor types and exhibits synergistic activity with standard-of-care chemotherapeutic agents. These data are published in the current edition of PNAS in an article entitled "Wnt Pathway Inhibition via the Targeting of Frizzled Receptors Results in Decreased Growth and Tumorigenicity of Human Tumors."

OMP-18R5 was made using MorphoSys's proprietary HuCAL GOLD antibody technology. The ongoing Phase 1 trial is being conducted in patients with advanced solid tumors and is designed to assess safety and pharmacokinetics, and to provide initial indications of anti-tumor efficacy and the effects of OMP-18R5 on Wnt pathway biomarkers. OMP-18R5 is part of OncoMed's collaboration with Bayer Pharma AG.

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. The Company's AbD Serotec unit uses HuCAL and other antibody technologies to generate superior monoclonal antibodies for research and diagnostic applications.

Together with its pharmaceutical partners, MorphoSys has built a therapeutic pipeline of more than 70 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 ]

HuCAL®, HuCAL GOLD®, HuCAL PLATINUM®, Ylanthia®, CysDisplay®, RapMAT® and arYla® are registered trademarks of MorphoSys.

This communication contains certain forward-looking statements concerning the MorphoSys group of companies. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgment of MorphoSys as of the date of this release and involve risks and uncertainties. Should actual conditions differ from the Company's assumptions, actual results and actions may differ from those anticipated. MorphoSys does not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements as far as the wording of the relevant press release is concerned.

Media Release (PDF):

[ http://hugin.info/130295/R/1624255/519373.pdf ]

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Source: MorphoSys AG via Thomson Reuters ONE

[HUG#1624255]