Morphotek Achieves Collaboration Milestone with the Successful Development of Antibody Cell Line for Centocor

Exton, PA - April 6, 2004Ð Morphotek Inc. announced today that Centocor, Inc. of Malvern, PA, has confirmed the development of a high-titer antibody producing cell line from the companies' research collaboration. The development resulted in an undisclosed milestone payment to Morphotek.

The cell line comes from a research program that uses Morphotek's proprietary MORPHODOMA® technology, which rapidly evolves lead mammalian cell lines to generate subclones. The result is protein products with enhanced therapeutic efficacy and genetically enhanced cells exhibiting high titers of protein for scaleable manufacturing.

"We are pleased that our platform technology was useful in the optimization of an antibody producing cell line," said Nicholas C. Nicolaides, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Morphotek. "Our scientific staff worked very closely with Centocor scientists to develop a cell line that met very specific criteria."

Philip M. Sass, Ph.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer added, "This is yet another successful application of our platform process for advancing the development of therapeutic proteins and attendant high-titer manufacturing cell lines."

Morphotek® Inc. is a biotechnology company specializing in the development of protein and antibody products through the use of a novel and proprietary gene evolution technology. The technology has been successfully applied to a broad variety of cell lines and organisms to yield genetically diverse offspring that are suitable for pharmaceutical product development in the areas of antibody therapeutics, protein therapeutics, product manufacturing, drug target discovery, and improved output traits for commercial applications. The company is currently focusing its platform on the development and manufacturing of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and infectious disease. For further company information visit www.morphotek.com.

Contact: Mary Callan, Ph.D./Morphotek, 610-423-6147, info@morphotek.com