Daiichi Sankyo and MorphoSys Expand Collaboration With Two New Cancer-Related Antibody...

Daiichi Sankyo and MorphoSys Expand Collaboration With Two New Cancer-Related
Antibody Programs

MARTINSRIED, Germany, May 18, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MorphoSys AG
(Frankfurt:MOR) (Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) announced today the start of a
further two oncology-focused therapeutic antibody programs within its
collaboration with DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED (Tokyo Stock Exchange:4568)
(hereinafter Daiichi Sankyo). By exercising two options available under the
parties' existing agreement, Daiichi Sankyo has selected two new target
molecules against which MorphoSys will generate antibodies using its proprietary
HuCAL technology. Daiichi Sankyo will carry out pre-clinical and clinical
development and has worldwide marketing rights for all resulting products.
MorphoSys receives exclusive license fees and stands to receive milestones and
royalties for the therapeutic antibody programs, as per the terms of the
companies' existing agreement. Further financial details were not disclosed.

"The addition of these new oncology programs promises to strengthen still
further our partnered antibody pipeline", commented Dr. Simon Moroney, CEO of
MorphoSys. "We look forward to working with Daiichi Sankyo on the programs, and
making progress towards our declared goal of establishing a broad therapeutic
pipeline of HuCAL-based antibody drugs."

The two companies have been engaged in joint application of MorphoSys's advanced
phage display and human antibody library technologies since March 2006. In March
2008, Daiichi Sankyo exercised its option to extend the contracting period until
March 2011. Today, the collaboration encompasses four active therapeutic
antibody programs. In May 2008, Daiichi Sankyo further strengthened its pipeline
of novel targeted therapeutics in oncology by acquiring the German biotechnology
company U3 Pharma AG. The cancer-related target molecules, which build the basis
for the HuCAL-based programs, were part of U3 Pharma's portfolio.

About MorphoSys:

MorphoSys is a publicly traded biotechnology company focused on the generation
of fully human antibodies as a means to discover and develop innovative
antibody-based drugs against life-threatening diseases. MorphoSys's goal is to
establish HuCAL as the technology of choice for antibody generation in research,
diagnostics and therapeutic applications. The Company currently has therapeutic
and research alliances with the majority of the world's largest pharmaceutical
companies including Boehringer Ingelheim, Centocor/Johnson & Johnson, Novartis,
Pfizer and Roche. Within these partnerships, more than 50 therapeutic antibody
programs are ongoing in which MorphoSys participates through exclusive license
and milestones payments as well as royalties on any end products. Additionally,
MorphoSys is active in the antibody research market through its AbD Serotec
business unit. The business unit has operations in Germany (Munich), the U.S.
(Raleigh, NC) and U.K. (Oxford). For further information please visit
http://www.morphosys.com/

HuCAL(r), HuCAL GOLD(r), HuCAL PLATINUM(r) and RapMAT(r) are registered
trademarks of MorphoSys AG

About DAIICHI SANKYO

DAIICHI SANKYO is a global pharmaceutical company that focuses on researching
and marketing innovative medications. The company was created in 2005 through
the merger of two traditional Japanese enterprises, Daiichi and Sankyo. With net
sales of nearly 5.9 billion [Eur] in fiscal year 2008, DAIICHI SANKYO is one of
the world's 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. The company's world
headquarters is in Tokyo, and its European base is located in Munich. DAIICHI
SANKYO has affiliates in 12 European countries and has been one of the strongest
Japanese pharmaceutical companies located in Europe since it set up European
production facilities and marketing offices in 1990. The company's research
activities focus on the areas of cardiovascular diseases, hematology, diabetes,
anti-infectives and cancer. Its aim is to develop medications that are "best" in
their class or to create new classes of pharmaceutical drugs. For more
information, please visit: www.daiichi-sankyo.eu.

This communication contains certain forward-looking statements concerning the
MorphoSys group of companies. The forward-looking statements contained herein
represent the judgment of MorphoSys as of the date of this release and involve
risks and uncertainties. Should actual conditions differ from the Company's
assumptions, actual results and actions may differ from those anticipated.
MorphoSys does not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements as
far as the wording of the relevant press release is concerned.

http://hugin.info/130295/R/1315591/306284.pdf

-0-
CONTACT: MorphoSys AG
Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Loser, Head of Corporate Communications &
Investor Relations
+49 (0) 89 / 899 27-122
gutjahr-loeser@morphosys.com
Mario Brkulj, Senior Manager Corporate Communications &
Investor Relations
+49 (0) 89 / 899 27-454
brkulj@morphosys.com

Daiichi Sankyo
Thorsten Schuller, Head of Media Relations Europe
+49 (0) 89 / 78 08 657
thorsten.schueller@daiichi-sankyo.eu