Last week, Ambrx announced a collaboration with Merck to develop and design drug conjugates based on the company’s technology in a deal worth $15 million up front and $288 million in milestone payments. This is the first partnership involving drugs of this class to focus on both oncology and non-oncology indications.
Drug conjugates are formed by joining a highly specific therapeutic, such as an antibody, with a drug. This class of therapeutics holds much promise due to their ability to deliver an active therapeutic to a specific cell while minimizing damage to healthy cells. Recently, Genentech’s drug conjugate, T-DM1, generated much attention at ASCO with the presentation of data demonstrating unprecedented improvements in metastatic breast cancer patients, delaying disease progression while also reducing side effects.
While drug conjugates are particularly promising for cancer indications, Ambrx’s site-specific technology enables this class of therapeutics to treat non-oncology indications as well, such as chronic and more common, non-life threatening diseases, including autoimmune, inflammatory, metabolic and cardiovascular disorders.
Russo Partners worked to secure coverage of the announcement in business-focused trade publications, including “The Pink Sheet” DAILY, BioWorld Today, Scrip, Xconomy; science-focused trade publications, including Chemical & Engineering News; as well as local publications, including the U-T San Diego and San Diego Daily Transcript.
Read more about the partnership in the articles below:
Last week 
