MorphoSys to develop Abs for USAMRIID

German antibody specialist MorphoSys AG says that its AbD Serotec business unit has been awarded a contract by the US Army Research and Materiel Command to produce five fully-human recombinant antibodies against bacterial toxins, for use in the US Biological Defense Program. AbD Serotec said that it would generate the antibodies using the HuCAL GOLD library developed by MorphoSys. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Simon Moroney, MorphoSys' chief executive, said: "securing this contract with the USAMRIID underscores the enormous potential of our proprietary HuCAL GOLD technology in the increasingly-important biodefense field." Dr Moroney added that the project would not have been possible using conventional animal-based antibody technology.