By Jon Evans

Can viruses be engineered to successfully tackle cancer? The biotechnology giant Amgen certainly hopes so. At the end of January, the California-based company announced that it was buying BioVex, a pioneer in developing so-called oncolytic viruses, for an impressive $1 billion.

“Without a doubt, the Amgen deal is a validation of this field, which has often been thought of as a little bit of a backwater,” says Robert Coffin, founder and chief technology officer of BioVex.

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