The Morphodoma technology creates high-titre mammalian cell lines that produce high affinity antibodies, and are easily applied to commercial production.

The technique relies on what Morphotek describes as Morphogenics - in which a cell is forced to undergo a kind of accelerated evolution. By inhibiting the usual DNA repair mechanisms in the cell, the company can produce a range of genetically diverse progeny.

Starting with a hybridoma cell that has been adapted to produce a monoclonal antibody, Morphotek can generate variants of the cell, some of which will exhibit the desired high titres and other characteristics suitable for large-scale production, with no need for expression in surrogate lines and time-consuming cell line engineering.

Using this approach, gene alteration occurs at the gene locus in hybridoma cells, bypassing the need for cloning and expression from transgenes. And as analysis occurs by screening MAb producer cells directly, natural selection identifies important structural regions for enhancing binding activity or production levels.

The new non-exclusive license agreement extends an original agreement between the two companies, originally signed in July 2003, which covered just one marketed product. This has now been expanded to include up to four of Novo 's drugs.

Morphotek will receive an upfront fee, R&D funding and milestone payments as the products advance through clinical development.