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MorphoSys, I-Mab sign strategic partnering agreement for immuno-oncology drug

19 November 2018 | News

Under the terms of the agreement, I-Mab will exercise its exclusive license rights for development and commercialization of MOR210 in its territories. Under the terms of the agreement, I-Mab will exercise its exclusive license rights for development and commercialization of MOR210 in its territories.

MorphoSys AG and I-Mab Biopharma, a biotech company focusing exclusively on innovative biologics in immuno-oncology and auto-immune diseases, jointly announced  that they have entered into an exclusive strategic collaboration and regional licensing agreement for MOR210.

MOR210 is MorphoSys’s proprietary, preclinical-stage antibody directed against C5aR, which has potential to be developed as an immuno-oncology agent. I-Mab will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize MOR210 in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and South Korea, while MorphoSys will retain rights in the rest of the world. The agreement deepens the existing partnership between two companies, building upon the ongoing collaboration on MorphoSys’s anti-CD38 antibody MOR202. 

Under the terms of the agreement, I-Mab will exercise its exclusive license rights for development and commercialization of MOR210 in its territories. With support from MorphoSys, I-Mab will perform and fund all global development activities for MOR210, including clinical trials in China and the U.S., towards clinical proof-of-concept (PoC) in oncology. 

MorphoSys will receive an upfront payment of $3.5 million from I-Mab and will be eligible for development and commercial milestone payments of up to $101.5 million, as well as tiered, mid-single-digit royalties on net sales of MOR210 in I-Mab’s territories. In return for the execution of a successful clinical proof-of-concept study, I-Mab is eligible to receive low-single-digit royalties on net sales generated with MOR210 outside its territories and a tiered percentage of sub-licensing revenue.

“This deal builds on our excellent existing relationship with I-Mab for MOR202. We are delighted to grant rights for MOR210 in the Chinese region to I-Mab and enable them to conduct clinical proof-of-concept studies while we focus on other priorities”, said Dr. Simon Moroney, Chief Executive Officer of MorphoSys. “The deal takes advantage of our very close working relationship to the benefit of both companies”.

“The release of immune checkpoint blockades within the tumor has become a successful strategy to fight cancers. MOR210 is a novel immuno-oncology asset directed against C5aR made by MorphoSys. By adressing this target molecule, we seek to modulate the tumor microenvironment. We look forward to seeing I-Mab drive this interesting program forward into clinical studies, while we retain rights to continue development of MOR210 outside of I-Mab’s territories after clinical proof of concept,” commented Dr. Markus Enzelberger, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG.

“This agreement is part of our continued efforts to develop innovative biologics with First-in-Class and Best-in-Class potentials,” said Dr. Jingwu Zang, Chief Executive Officer of I-Mab.

“We look forward to deepening our productive partnership with MorphoSys. We are thrilled to realize the therapeutic potential of MOR210 as a new treatment in immuno-oncology,” Zang added.  

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