Morphotek Announces Research Agreement with Abgenix to Develop High-Titer Antibody Cell Lines for Manufacturing

Morphotek Inc. announced today that it has signed a research agreement with Abgenix Inc. of Fremont, CA for use of its proprietary Morphodoma® technology for the development of high-titer cell lines for the manufacturing of one of Abgenix's fully human monoclonal antibody product candidates. Abgenix plans to apply Morphotek's technology to help enhance titer yields for the manufacture of pre-clinical and, in the future, clinical material.

Morphodoma® technology is a platform process that can rapidly evolve antibody producer cell lines to yield project-specific antibodies with increased antigen binding affinity and specificity as well as for generating sublines with enhanced titer yields that are suitable for scaleable commercial manufacturing.

Under the terms of the agreement, Morphotek will receive an upfront research payment and research milestones upon successful achievement of program goals. In addition, the company may receive commercial license and milestone payments upon clinical development of the antibody cell line, and royalties should Abgenix advance its product candidate through clinical development, regulatory review and commercial launch.

"We are delighted to have a premier biotechnology company such as Abgenix employing our MORPHODOMA® technology to develop high-titer antibody producer cell lines for the manufacturing of one of its antibody product candidates," stated Nicholas C. Nicolaides, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of Morphotek.

"This collaboration as well as several others that we will be announcing over the next few months is a validation of the usefulness of our platform to aid in the rapid development of high-titer manufacturing cell lines from pre-clinical through to commercial phase," added Philip M. Sass, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Morphotek.

Morphotek (www.morphotek.com) is a biotechnology company focused on the generation of proprietary organisms for product development using a patented platform technology that can enhance the natural process of genetic evolution within a targeted host. The technology has been successfully applied to microbes, plants, and mammals to yield genetically diverse offspring that are suitable for pharmaceutical and agricultural product development in the areas of antibody therapeutics, protein therapeutics, product manufacturing, drug target discovery, and improved output traits for commercial applications. The company is currently focusing its platform on the development and manufacturing of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and infectious disease.

For Information Contact:
Dr. Nicholas C. Nicolaides, President, CEO and CSO
Morphotek Inc.
610-423-6102

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