Pharmaceutical company MorphoSys AG announced that cancer drug maker Celgene Corp would be investing EUR 46.2 million to the company through a capital increase. The deal was made after its MOR202 alliance with Celgene received anti-trust clearance as required under the US Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. The management and supervisory boards of MorphoSys approved a capital increase through the issuance of 797,150 new Celgene Alpine Investment Co shares. The shares, sold at EUR 57.90 per share, represented 3.4% of Celgene's equity stake capital in the pharmaceutical company.

MorphoSys Chief Financial Officer Jens Holstein said they are pleased that the firm's partnership with Celgene was finally approved. "We are very pleased about receiving regulatory clearance and will now put our strategic alliance with Celgene into action. The upfront payment plus the equity further strengthens our financial position, enabling us to expand our proprietary portfolio of promising development candidates through targeted investments," the CFO added.