MorphoSys And Temple University To Collaborate In Antibody Discovery
MorphoSys AG and the Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research, a unit of Temple University's School of Pharmacy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, announced they will be entering into a strategic alliance focused on therapeutic antibody discovery.
Under the terms of the new agreement, the Moulder Center will gain access to MorphoSys’ Ylanthia technology to help identify new disease-related targets and create therapeutic antibody candidates. In return, MorphoSys will have exclusive rights to develop any antibodies produced from the collaboration. No financial details of the agreement were disclosed.
Dr. Marlies Sproll, CSO of MorphoSys AG, said, “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. 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.”
Dr. Magid Abou-Gharbia, Associate Dean for Research in Temple's School of Pharmacy and Director of the Moulder Center, said that the new collaborative effort with MorphoSys will benefit its faculty, students, and staff, as the partnership will expose all parties to the newest scientific tools needed to identify the next generation of antibody therapeutics. “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,” Dr. Abou-Gharbia said.
The Ylanthia library will be installed at Temple's Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research, a multidisciplinary research hub dedicated to developing members’ and partners’ scientific discoveries into new therapies.
Dr. Jon Condra, head of the Biotherapeutics Discovery Unit at Temple's Moulder Center for Drug Discovery Research, said that the organization is looking forward to work with MorphoSys. “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,” Dr. Condra said.