Exploiting Cancer's Achilles' Heels

Thursday, 2 July 2026, 12pm to 1pm

Entrepreneurial talk on building a precision Oncology Biotech Company and discovery of First-in-Class MLLT targeted protein degrader for AML.

Dr. John Pollard is a biotech executive with over 25 years-experience in drug discovery and development and has led teams to identify multiple drug candidates and medicines. He is currently CSO of Dark Blue Therapeutics, a precision medicine oncology company based in Oxford, which recently made headlines as a result of its acquisition by Amgen.  Prior to Dark Blue, John held senior leadership roles in Bayer, as VP and Global Head of Early Development and Translational Medicine for the Oncology Group; and at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where he served as VP and Principal Research Fellow at the company’s Oxford site. John is a visiting Professor of Drug Discovery at the University and has served on advisory boards for multiple organisations including the Diamond Light Source, Rosalind Franklin Institute and The National Brain Tumor Society.

Speaker(s): John Pollard PhD (Dark Blue Therapeutics, Visiting Professor Oxford University)

Venue: MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine - WIMM Seminar room - WIMM Seminar room MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine Headington Oxford Oxfordshire OX3 9DS United Kingdom

Department: Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (Unit)

Organiser: Yasmine Saito

Host: Professor Simon Davis