Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, made the following post on LinkedIn:
“Oxford University spinout Dark Blue Therapeutics has been acquired by global biotechnology company Amgen in a deal worth up to US$840 million, marking a major milestone for Oxford-led cancer research and innovation.
The deal reflects years of collaborative, multidisciplinary work across the University and its partners to translate fundamental research into promising new medicines.
The acquisition is expected to help accelerate the development of a new type of targeted treatment for hashtag#leukaemia, with the potential to improve outcomes for patients. It is also hoped that this treatment could be expanded to other cancers.
Thomas Milne from the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine is among those upon whose discoveries the company was built. He explains:
‘The company is developing a novel approach to treating leukaemia by targeting proteins that drive cancer growth in aggressive blood cancers, including acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Our research showed that this approach can inhibit the growth of leukaemia cells while largely sparing healthy cells, raising the prospect of a more effective and better-tolerated treatment.'”
Proceed to the article attached to the post.
The Nuffield Department of Medicine echoed the excitement, posting on LinkedIn:
“‘We set out to create a model that could reduce risk early by combining strong biology with high-quality chemistry, while keeping future development in mind.’
As Professor Paul Brennan, Centre for Medicines Discovery, NDM, reflects, progress in cancer research depends on collaboration, bringing together scientists across University of Oxford Departments and industry partners.
The recent acquisition of Oxford spinout Dark Blue Therapeutics by Amgen highlights the strength of this approach, from early discovery through to spinout and early-stage development.
It is this shared effort across the Oxford ecosystem that underpins our approach to translational research.
Congratulations to all the scientists whose work contributed to this success, amongst them: Paul Brennan, Oleg Fedorov, Cassandra Adams, Gillian Farnie, Kilian Huber, Thomas Milne, Monika Gullerova, Christian Siebold and Ivan Ahel.”
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