Drugmaker Pfizer has acquired Bamboo Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company based in Chapel Hill, N.C., focused on developing gene therapies to treat patients with certain rare diseases.
The acquisition expands Pfizer's expertise in gene therapy by providing the company with a clinical and several pre-clinical assets that complement Pfizer's rare disease portfolio; an advanced recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus vector design and production technology; and a fully functional Phase I/II gene therapy manufacturing facility that Bamboo acquired from the University of North Carolina earlier this year.
"The field of gene therapy research has made tremendous strides in recent years, and we are pleased to be able to further enhance our leadership position in this area through this transaction with Bamboo," Mikael Dolsten, President, Pfizer Worldwide Research & Development, said in a statement. "We believe that gene therapy may hold the promise of bringing true disease modification for patients suffering from devastating diseases, and we hope to see this promise come to fruition — through new and existing in-house capabilities and potential partnership opportunities — in the years to come."