Morphosys awarded €1.1M grant for cancer antibody

Grant

MorphoSys has been awarded a €1.1 million grant by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF, to accelerate the development of its HuCAL-based cancer programme MOR202 into clinical development for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

As part of the programme, the company plans to explore relevant biomarkers to show that its anti-CD38 antibody is effective, working in collaboration with Klinikum rechts der Isar, the university hospital of Munich Technical University.

The award was made as part of Munich’s biotechnology initiative, “m4 - Personalised Medicine and Targeted Therapies - A New Dimension in Drug Development in the Munich Region,” which this year received high-tech cluster status in a German government funding competition.

MOR202 is a fully human, HuCAL antibody directed against CD38, a membrane-bound glycoprotein, a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of multiple myeloma and certain leukemias. In pre-clinical studies, MOR202 effectively killed cancer cells from primary patient tumour material and cancer cell lines. Furthermore, preclinical efficacy was shown by demonstrating inhibition of tumour growth in mouse xenograft tumor models. The program is expected to move into clinical trials at the beginning of next year.

“We believe that MOR202 has a very competitive profile and distinct advantages over similar programmes in the industry. As part of the research programme with Klinikum rechts der Isar we plan to explore certain biomarkers for this new therapeutic approach, thereby further differentiating our programme,” said Arndt Schottelius, Chief Development Officer of MorphoSys AG.