The transaction is expected to make MorphoSys the sole source of Sloning’s Slonomics technology, which improves the assembly and quality of protein libraries.
MorphoSys said that by integrating Slonomics into its existing antibody technology platform, it expects to improve the generation of drug candidates such that one in every two projects started reaches clinical development.
MorphoSys stated that the technology will also be used to accelerate the generation of both therapeutic and diagnostic antibodies.
MorphoSys CEO Simon Moroney said that Sloning’s technology is the method available for assembling protein libraries and has been proven to deliver products for a range of applications.
MorphoSys chief scientific officer Marlies Sproll said that the current antibody generation technologies use an initial repertoire, which largely determines the properties of the resulting antibody.
“We intend to use Slonomics as the basis of a fundamentally different approach, which will rapidly test multiple generations of antibodies, equivalent to screening many billions of molecules, to isolate the best possible candidate,” Sproll said.
Sloning CEO Heinz Schwer said that they believe that the two companies’ technology portfolios and expertise will lead to therapeutic, diagnostic and industrial products.