CAT and MorphoSys settle

RNS Number:4840F
Cambridge Antibody Tech Group PLC
23 December 2002

02/CAT/28

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

07.00 GMT 02.00 EST 23 December 2002

For further information contact:

Cambridge Antibody Technology Weber Shandwick Square Mile (Europe)
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 471 471 Tel: +44 (0) 20 7067 0700
Peter Chambre, Chief Executive Officer Kevin Smith
John Aston, Chief Financial Officer Graham Herring
Rowena Gardner, Director of Corporate Communications

MorphoSys BMC Communications/The Trout Group (USA)
Dave Lemus, Chief Financial Officer Tel: 001 212 477 9007
Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-439 Brad Miles, ext 17 (media)
Dr Claudia Gutjahr-Loser, Manager Corporate Brandon Lewis, ext.15 (investors)
Communications
Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-122

CAMBRIDGE ANTIBODY TECHNOLOGY AND MORPHOSYS SETTLE PATENT DISPUTES

Cambridge, UK and Martinsried, Germany... Cambridge Antibody Technology (LSE:
CAT; NASDAQ: CATG) and MorphoSys AG (Neuer Markt: MOR) today announce that they
have agreed to settle all patent disputes between the two companies. The
settlement agreement covers MorphoSys' past, present and future use and
commercialisation of all versions of its HuCAL(R) libraries, including the most
recent development, HuCAL(R) GOLD and relates to all patents in the ongoing
disputes between the two companies.

The companies have agreed to terms under which CAT will receive an annual
payment of Euros 1 million over the next five years. It will also receive other
financial consideration from MorphoSys' activities related to its HuCAL GOLD
libraries for a defined period of time. CAT will receive milestone and royalty
payments under a licence for products developed using previous HuCAL libraries.
In addition, CAT will receive an equity stake of 588,160 ordinary shares in
MorphoSys under the licence agreement. MorphoSys retains the option to buy out
its obligations to CAT for a pre-defined fixed amount at any time during the
duration of the agreement.

MorphoSys will be free to develop and commercialise its HuCAL technologies. CAT
undertakes not to sue MorphoSys in relation to present HuCAL GOLD libraries and
all future derivatives thereof. In addition, MorphoSys will receive a licence
to the CAT patent estate in respect of previous HuCAL libraries.

Peter Chambre, CAT's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are delighted to
have agreed a settlement that means that both CAT and MorphoSys can now
concentrate on getting on with their respective businesses. We have previously
stated that we were prepared to work with MorphoSys to settle the actions on the
right terms and this agreement puts an end to the distraction to both parties
caused by the litigation. In addition, in reaching this agreement CAT
shareholders will benefit from the future growth of MorphoSys' business."

"This is excellent news for us, which we believe will result in commercial
benefit through increased deal flow", commented Dr Simon Moroney, Chief
Executive Officer of MorphoSys AG. "Settlement also brings an end to investment
of time and money in lawsuits. We are delighted to put this dispute behind us on
very acceptable terms and to cement the agreement with an equity participation
from CAT."

-ENDS-

MorphoSys and CAT jointly dedicate this settlement agreement to Mr. Hans-Josef
Schuster

Notes to Editors

Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT):

CAT is a UK-based biotechnology company using its proprietary technologies and
capabilities in human monoclonal antibodies for drug discovery and drug
development. Based near Cambridge, England, CAT currently employs around 290
people.

CAT is a leader in the discovery and development of human therapeutic antibodies
and has an advanced proprietary platform technology for rapidly isolating human
monoclonal antibodies using phage display systems. CAT has extensive phage
antibody libraries, currently incorporating more than 100 billion distinct
antibodies. These libraries form the basis for the Company's strategy to develop
a portfolio of antibody-based drugs.

HumiraTM, the leading CAT-derived antibody, has been submitted for regulatory
review by Abbott (responsible for development and marketing) following the
completion of Phase III trials. Six other CAT-derived human therapeutic
antibodies are at various stages of clinical trials.

CAT has alliances with a large number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology
companies to discover, develop and commercialise human monoclonal antibody-based
products. CAT has also licensed its proprietary human phage antibody libraries
to several companies for target validation and drug discovery. CAT's
collaborators include: Abbott, Amgen, Amrad, Chugai, Elan, Genzyme, Human Genome
Sciences, Merck & Co, Pharmacia and Wyeth Research.

CAT is listed on the London Stock Exchange and on NASDAQ since June 2001. CAT
raised #41m in its IPO in March 1997 and #93m in a secondary offering in March
2000.

This agreement includes litigation in the US regarding CAT's Griffiths,
McCafferty, Winter II and Winter/Lerner/Huse patents, as well as oppositions
launched by MorphoSys at the European Patent Office against CAT's Winter II and
McCafferty patents.

For CAT

Application of the Safe Harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995:

This press release contains statements about Cambridge Antibody Technology Group
plc ("CAT") that are forward looking statements. All statements other than
statements of historical facts included in this press release may be forward
looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934. These forward looking statements are based on numerous assumptions
regarding CAT's present and future business strategies and the environment in
which CAT will operate in the future. Certain factors that could cause CAT's
actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in
the forward looking statements include: market conditions, CAT's ability to
enter into and maintain collaborative arrangements, success of product
candidates in clinical trials, regulatory developments and competition.

MorphoSys:

MorphoSys develops and applies innovative technologies for the production of
synthetic antibodies, which accelerate drug discovery and target
characterisation. Founded in 1992, the Company's proprietary Human Combinatorial
Antibody Library (HuCAL(R)) technology is used by researchers worldwide for
human antibody generation.

The Company currently has licensing and research collaborations with Bayer
(Berkeley, California/USA), Biogen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA),
Bristol-Myers Squibb (Wilmington, Delaware/USA), Centocor Inc. (Malvern,
Pennsylvania/USA), GPC Biotech AG (Munich/Germany), Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Basel/
Switzerland), ImmunoGen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Oridis Biomed GmbH
(Graz/Austria), ProChon Biotech Ltd. (Rehovot/Israel), Schering AG (Berlin/
Germany) and Xoma Ltd. (Berkeley, California/USA).

For further information please visit the corporate website at:
http://www.morphosys.com/.

For MorphoSys:

Statements included in this press release which are not historical in nature are
intended to be, and are hereby identified as, "forward-looking statements" for
purposes of the safe harbour provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "
believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The
company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without
limitation those relating to the company's future operations and business
prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking
statements. Factors that may affect future operations and business prospects
include, but are not limited to, clinical and scientific results and
developments concerning corporate collaborations and the company's proprietary
rights and other factors described in the prospectus relating to the company's
recent public offering.

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

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