Amgen inks $840m takeover of UK's Dark Blue Therapeutics

In what is thought to be the first major pharma M&A deal of the year, Amgen has bought Oxford, UK-based biotech Dark Blue Therapeutics (DBT), which specialises in cancer therapies.

The transaction – which could cost Amgen up to $840 million, including upfront and milestone payments – includes a lead candidate for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) that is in the final stages of preclinical development.

Privately-held Dark Blue was formed in 2020 and emerged onto the scene two years later with a £75 million ($101 million) Series A led by Forbion and backed by Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), and Evotec. In March 2025, the start-up appointed serial biotech entrepreneur Edwin Moses as its chairman.

The AML candidate, codenamed DBT 3757, is a potentially first-in-class small molecule degrader of the transcriptional regulator MLLT 1/3, which could have potential as monotherapy and in combination with other therapies for AML, as well as solid tumours, said Moses in a LinkedIn post.

DBT's pipeline spans degraders, molecular glues, and inhibitors, and also includes candidates targeting ADAR1, an enzyme commonly overexpressed in cancer, and SMO, a protein in the Hedgehog signalling pathway that is well-established as a target in diseases like AML and basal cell carcinoma.

"We experienced considerable interest from pharmaceutical companies in the lead programme," said Moses, who said DBT's board had looked into the relative merits of a takeover versus the traditional venture capital financing route for biotech start-ups.

"We were delighted to reach agreement on the acquisition of the company by Amgen, who we are sure will be able to accelerate the development and broaden the applications of this lead programme," he added. With Amgen now in charge, the DBT board has resigned, and Moses is no longer directly involved in the company.

Amgen said it plans to integrate DBT into its existing R&D operations, which include hubs in Cambridge and Uxbridge in the UK.

"Acute myeloid leukaemia remains one of the most difficult cancers to treat, and we see an urgent need for new mechanisms capable of changing the trajectory of this disease," said Jay Bradner, Amgen's head of R&D.

"This acquisition complements and extends our research in targeted protein degradation and leukaemia therapeutics, advancing our strategy to invest early in rising medicines for novel therapeutic targets."

Amgen has previously signed licensing deals for protein degrader therapeutics for cancer and other diseases with Plexium and Arrakis Therapeutics.