Johnson & Johnson Acquires Ambrx in $2B Win for Advanced Prostate Cancer
Biopharmaceutical company, Ambrx (Nasdaq: AMAM), has announced it will be acquired by Johnson & Johnson for $28.00 per share in cash, for a total equity value of approximately $2.0 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2024. Ambrx’s shares rose 101% following the news.
Johnson & Johnson scientists intend to work with Ambrx researchers, accelerating the Phase 1/2 APEX01 study of ARX517 in advanced prostate cancer, while progressing a pipeline of novel product candidates.
Daniel J. O’Connor, Chief Executive Officer of Ambrx said the company is excited to reach this agreement with Johnson & Johnson for advancing scientific research to treat cancers with high unmet needs.
“With our deep and unique knowledge of precision engineering of protein therapeutics enabled by our proprietary technology incorporating synthetic amino acids in living cells, Ambrx has developed nextgeneration novel drug candidates such as site-specifically conjugated highly stable antibody drug conjugates. Through this transaction, we will continue to advance our leading prostate cancer candidate and Ambrx’s promising pipeline, while delivering significant and certain cash value to our shareholders. This announcement is the culmination of two decades of scientific work, combined with the Ambrx team’s talent, hard work and innovation. I look forward to what Ambrx will achieve as part of Johnson & Johnson,” said Mr. O’Connor.
Ambrx’s proprietary Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) technology incorporates the advantages of highly specific targeting monoclonal antibodies securely linked to a potent chemotherapeutic payload to achieve targeted and efficient elimination of cancer cells without the prevalent side-effects typically associated with chemotherapy.
About Ambrx Biopharma, Inc.
Ambrx is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company using an expanded genetic code technology platform to discover and develop next-generation antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and other engineered therapies to modulate the immune system. Ambrx is advancing a focused portfolio of clinical and preclinical programs designed to optimize efficacy and safety in multiple cancer indications, including ARX517, its proprietary ADC targeting the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and ARX788, its proprietary ADC targeting HER2. In addition, Ambrx has preclinical and clinical collaborations with multiple partners on drug candidates generated using Ambrx technology. Ambrx was spun out of The Scripps Research Institute in 2003 and has several other product candidates involving ADCs and other aspects of Ambrx’s protein engineering technology. For more information, please visit www.ambrx.com. Ambrx routinely posts information that may be important to investors on its website.
