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MorphoSys Antibodies by Design,
ProQinase and Natural and Medical Sciences Institute (NMI) receive BMBF-promotion
for Kinome-project
ASK-chip shall enable targeted functional
analysis of the human kinome
Martinsried/Munich, Freiburg and Reutlingen, June 22, 2005 - ProQinase, a
division of KTB Tumorforschungs GmbH at the Tumor Biology Center, Freiburg, the
NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of Tübingen, and
Antibodies by Design, a division of MorphoSys AG, Munich, today announced the
start of a joint project which could revolutionize the analysis of all human
protein kinases - the human "kinome". The project combines the established
protein kinase platform of ProQinase with the know-how of Antibodies by Design
in the field of custom-made antibody generation and the experience of NMI with
siRNA and Biochip technologies. The goal of the project is to develop an
adenoviral siRNA-kinome-chip (ASK chip) which enables the parallel inhibition of
all human protein kinases by means of RNA interference on a miniaturized
Biochip. This technology allows simultaneous determination of the function of
all protein kinases, e.g. growth of tumor cells to identify starting points for
new therapies. Members of the protein kinase family are considered as promising
targets for therapy of different diseases. In the coming three years, the
project will be supported by approximately EUR2 million within the scope of the
BioChancePLUS Program of the German Federal Ministry of Research (BMBF).
More than 500 protein kinases, which pass on cell signals and affect almost all
biological processes, are currently known. A number of these kinases are
suspected to play a central role in various diseases such as cancer,
inflammation, or cardiovascular disease. "Protein kinases function as a complex
network which often is altered in human diseases, but can be affected
therapeutically by drugs that block individual protein kinases", stated Dr.
Michael Kubbutat, Head of Research & Development at ProQinase. "Until now,
however, an overall picture and understanding of this network that would allow
e.g. to determine the effects of drugs on the interaction of the protein kinase
network is still missing. The expertise of ProQinase in this field will support
this project to find a remedy."
Drug research in this field requires optimized reagents. Sufficient quantities
of recombinant protein kinases, methods for specific manipulation of protein
expression in suitable cell lines, and kinase-specific antibodies for the entire
kinome play a central role. At present, there are no antibodies available for
the majority of kinases. This bottleneck in the project will be resolved by the
use of MorphoSys' HuCAL(R) technology. Antibodies by Design will generate
recombinant antibodies against up to 250 protein kinases. "By combining Biochip,
siRNA, and antibody technologies, this project represents a new scientific
approach and validates the efficiency of our automation systems for
high-throughput antibody generation", stated Dieter Lingelbach, General Manager
of Antibodies by Design and Senior Vice President of MorphoSys.
Targeted blocking of the expression of selected protein kinases will be achieved
using short interfering RNA molecules (siRNA) in the form of short hairpin RNAs
(shRNA). These shRNA vectors will be produced by NMI and MorphoSys. ProQinase
will use kinase-specific antibodies from Antibodies by Design to confirm
successful deactivation of the protein kinases by specific shRNA vectors. The
combination of all components to create a complete analysis system in chip
format will take place at the NMI, where adenoviruses expressing functionally
validated shRNA sequences will be arranged on a miniaturized biochip. A patent
application protecting the procedure to produce and apply ASK chips has been
submitted to the German Patent Office by NMI. "A new approach enabling parallel
functional analysis of all human protein kinases in living cells in combination
with miniaturization via chip technology has not yet been developed", commented
Dr. Enzio Müller, Director of the institute at the NMI. "We therefore predict a
good potential market for the products developed out of this partnership."
About MorphoSys' Antibodies by Design :
MorphoSys develops and applies innovative technologies for the production of
synthetic antibodies, which accelerate drug discovery and target
characterization. Founded in 1992, the Company's proprietary Human Combinatorial
Antibody Library (HuCAL(R)) technology is used by researchers worldwide for
human antibody generation. The Company currently has licensing and research
collaborations with Bayer (Berkeley, California/USA), Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim,
Germany), Bristol-Myers Squibb (Wilmington, Delaware/USA), Centocor Inc.
(Malvern, Pennsylvania/USA), GPC Biotech AG (Munich/Germany), Hoffmann-La Roche
AG (Basel/Switzerland), ImmunoGen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Novartis
AG (Basel, Switzerland), Novoplant GmbH (Gatersleben/Germany), Oridis Biomed
GmbH (Graz/Austria), Pfizer Inc. (Delaware/USA), ProChon Biotech Ltd. (Rehovot/Israel),
Schering AG (Berlin/Germany) and Xoma Ltd. (Berkeley, California/USA). For
further information, please visit the corporate website at: www.morphosys.com;
information on the Antibodies by Design Division of MorphoSys is available at
www.A-by-D.com.
About ProQinase :
ProQinase is an operative unit of the KTB Tumorforschungs GmbH in Freiburg,
Germany. ProQinase offers services based on its Integrated Protein Kinase
Technology Platform (iProKiTeTM) primarily for the pharmaceutical industry
worldwide. At the same time this platform is used for internal drug development
in collaboration with academic and industrial partners. iProKiTeTM covers a
large part of early drug development in oncology from HTS-screening and kinase
inhibitor profiling to cellular assays, in vivo models and biomarker assays. On
top of this ProQinase has rapid access to clinical trials of in house developed
drugs due to its affiliation with the Tumor Biology Center, Freiburg, Germany.
Further information is available at www.proqinase.com.
About NMI :
The NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute is a foundation (non-profit
organization) established in 1985. The mission of the NMI is to transfer the
results of basic research into innovative applications. We perform contract
research and support our industrial clients in their product development. The
NMI is focused on pharma and biotechnology, biomedical technology and material
sciences. The surface- and interface-technology has an interconnecting function
and provides the basis for our competence at the junction between micro-and
nanotechnology and life sciences. In the area pharma/biotechnology, the NMI
offers innovative technologies for drug discovery and diagnostics, such as the
establishment of recombinant cell-lines the use of siRNA-Technology for target
validation, proteinchips, cellchips, electrophysiology, neurotoxicity,
neuroregeneration, blood-brain-barrier. Further information is available at
www.nmi.de.
ProQinase - Antibodies by Design
Dr. Michael Kubbutat
Head of Research & Development
ProQinase/
KTB Tumorforschungsgesellschaft mbH
Breisacher Str. 117
79106 Freiburg
Tel: +49 (0) 761 206 -1780
Fax: +49 (0) 761 206 -1781
m.kubbutat@proqinase.com
For Business Development:
Dr. Michael Szardenings
info@proqinase.com
Business Development queries:
Dieter Lingelbach
Senior Vice President
Antibodies by Design / MorphoSys
Lena-Christ Str. 48
82152 Martinsried / Planegg
Tel: +49 (0) 89 899 27 -0
Fax: +49 (0) 89 899 27 -222
Antibodies@A-by-D.com
NMI - Natural and Medical Sciences Institute - MorphoSys AG
Dr. Enzio Müller
Managing Director
NMI - Natural and Medical Sciences Institute
Markwiesenstr. 55
Reutlingen 72770
Tel.: +49 7121 - 51 530 -0
Fax: +49 7121 - 51 530 -16
mueller@nmi.de
Press and Investor queries:
Dave Lemus
MorphoSys AG
Chief Financial Officer
Tel: +49 (0) 89 899 27 -439
Fax: +49 (0) 89 899 27 -5439
investors@morphosys.com
For more information please contact:
Andrew Lloyd & Associates
Andrew Lloyd / Heidi Thompson
Tel: +44 1273 675100
allo@ala.com /
heidi@ala.com
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