German biotechnology firm MorphoSys posted a 52% hike in revenues for 2005 to 33.5 million euros ($40m), driven by milestone payments and new licensing deals in its therapeutic antibodies business.

The company, which has recently started developing its own in-house therapeutic products but at present focuses on selling antibody development and production technologies to commercial partners, said the therapeutic antibody business contributed 29 million euros to its total revenues last year.

Meanwhile, the German group's research antibodies business, which consists of Antibodies by Design and recently-acquired Biogenesis and Serotec, generated 4.3 million euros in 2005.

MorphoSys posted a net profit of 4.7 million euros, up from 300,000 euros a year earlier. It said it expects revenues to rise to 50 million euros in 2006.