Monday, June 28, 2010

Xencor In License With MorphoSys

Monrovia-based Xencor, the biopharmaceuticals firm headed by Dr. Bassil Dahiyat, has inked a licensing deal with German pharmaceuticals firm MorphoSys, Morphosys said over the weekend. Accordin to MorphoSys, it has gained an worldwide license to XmAb5574, a high potency monoclonal antibody developed by Xencor for the treatment of B-cell malignancies. As part of the licensing deal, Xencor will receive $13M and will be eligible for unspecified development-, regulatory- and commercialization-related milestone payments and royalties. The compound is being used to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Xencor is venture backed by HealthCare Ventures, MedImmune Ventures, Merlin Nexus, Novo Nordisk, Oxford Bioscience Partners, Stafford Investments, and Zen Investments.

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