MARTINSRIED / MUNICH, Germany, March 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX) published today its agenda for the Company's ordinary Annual General Meeting, which will take place on Friday, May 8, 2015. MorphoSys's Supervisory Board nominated Ms. Wendy Johnson, Mr. Klaus Kühn and Dr. Frank Morich as candidates to be elected as new members at the Company's AGM 2015. Ms. Johnson, Mr. Kühn and Dr. Morich will replace Dr. Walter Blättler, Dr. Daniel Camus and Dr. Geoffrey Vernon. Dr. Vernon has been a member of MorphoSys AG's Supervisory Board since 1999, while Dr. Camus and Dr. Blättler joined in 2002 and 2007, respectively.
"We are delighted to be able to present three highly qualified candidates, each with extensive industry expertise, for MorphoSys's Supervisory Board. The three new candidates bring to our Board significant experience in pharmaceutical drug development and commercialization, finance and accounting as well as business development," commented Dr. Gerald Möller, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of MorphoSys AG. "On behalf of the Company, I would like to thank Dr. Walter Blättler, Dr. Daniel Camus and Dr. Geoffrey Vernon for their invaluable support over many years in establishing MorphoSys as one of the world's leading therapeutic antibody companies."
Ms. Wendy Johnson currently serves as Managing Director of Gemini Advisors and Interim Chief Operating Officer and Member of the Board of Directors of AmpliPhi BioSciences. Previously, she was a venture partner at ProQuest Investments, a healthcare-focused venture capital firm. She also founded and served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Aires Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining ProQuest, she served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, at Salmedix Inc., where she was involved in the clinical development of the company's oncology portfolio including the cancer drug bendamustine. Before her time at Salmedix she held various senior business and corporate development positions and served as Assistant Director with the Center for Devices and Radiological Health at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Ms. Johnson holds an M.B.A. from Loyola University, an M.S. in clinical microbiology from the Hahnemann Medical School and a B.S. in microbiology from the University of Maryland.
Mr. Klaus Kühn, former Chief Financial Officer of Bayer AG, has more than 30 years of experience in executive positions, primarily in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry with a focus on finance and accounting. Before his appointment as CFO, he served as Head of Finance at Bayer AG and oversaw the spin-off and subsequent IPO of the group's former Agfa division. Prior to his time with Bayer, he was Head of Corporate Staff and Head of Finance at Schering AG. In the biotechnology industry he previously held positions on the Supervisory Boards of 4SC AG and MediGene AG. He currently holds positions on the Supervisory Boards of Flossbach von Storch AG and Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. Mr. Kühn studied Mathematics and Physics at Technical University of Berlin and holds an M.B.A. in International Business Studies from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, U.S.A.
Dr. Frank Morich, M.D., Ph.D. was most recently Chief Commercial Officer and Member of the Board of Directors of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, as well as Chief Executive Officer of Takeda Pharmaceutical International GmbH. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President of International Operations for Americas/Europe at Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. Before his time at Takeda, Dr. Morich served as Chief Executive Officer of NOXXON Pharma AG from and as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Innogenetics NV. Between 1982 and 2002 he held various R&D and senior management positions in the Bayer Group. In 2000, he was appointed member of the Management Board of Bayer AG and member of the Board of Directors of Bayer Corp., USA. In 2002, Dr. Morich was elected Chairman of the Board of Management and Executive Committee for Bayer Healthcare AG. Dr. Morich studied medicine at the University of Marburg in Germany, specializing in immunology and oncology.
The full agenda for the Annual General Meeting is available on the Company's website under www.morphosys.com/agm.
About MorphoSys:
MorphoSys developed HuCAL, the most successful antibody library technology in the pharmaceutical industry. By successfully applying this and other patented technologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeutic antibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human healthcare.
Together with its pharmaceutical partners, MorphoSys has built a therapeutic pipeline of more than 90 human antibody drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer's disease, to name just a few. With its ongoing commitment to new antibody technology and drug development, MorphoSys is focused on making the healthcare products of tomorrow. MorphoSys is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol MOR. For regular updates about MorphoSys, visit http://www.morphosys.com.
HuCAL®, HuCAL GOLD®, HuCAL PLATINUM®, CysDisplay®, RapMAT®, arYla®, Ylanthia® and 100 billion high potentials® are registered trademarks of MorphoSys AG.
Slonomics® is a registered trademark of Sloning BioTechnology GmbH, a subsidiary of MorphoSys AG.
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.
For more information, please contact:
MorphoSys AG
Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Löser
Head of Corporate Communications & IR
Mario Brkulj
Associate Director Corporate Communications & IR
Alexandra Goller
Manager Corporate Communications & IR
Jessica Rush
Manager Corporate Communications & IR
Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-404
Media Release (PDF) http://hugin.info/130295/R/1907403/679395.pdf
HUG#1907403