Amgen has announced the acquisition of Dark Blue Therapeutics, a company based in England, as part of its strategy to strengthen its cancer drug pipeline. The financial terms were not fully disclosed, but Amgen stated in a news release that the deal could be worth up to $840 million. Dark Blue confirmed that this amount includes both an upfront payment and future milestone payments.
The timeline for closing the transaction was not specified by either company. Once completed, Amgen plans to integrate Dark Blue into its research organization to enhance early-stage cancer research.
A key asset in this acquisition is DBT 3757, an investigational small-molecule drug targeting MLLT1 and MLLT3 proteins. According to information from Dark Blue’s website, these proteins are involved in gene expression linked to certain cancers. DBT 3757 works by degrading these proteins and may offer new treatment options for patients with leukemias and solid tumors, including those resistant to menin inhibitors. The drug is currently in pre-clinical development and undergoing studies required before it can move into clinical trials.
Jay Bradner, executive vice president of R&D at Amgen, said in a statement: “We see an urgent need for new mechanisms capable of changing the trajectory” of acute myeloid leukemia. The Dark Blue acquisition, “complements and extends our research in targeted protein degradation and leukemia therapeutics.”
This move builds on Amgen’s previous activity in protein degradation therapies. In early 2022, Amgen agreed to pay up to $500 million as part of a partnership with Plexium focused on developing molecular glues for cancer and other diseases. Around the same time, Amgen also entered a collaboration with Arrakis Therapeutics targeting RNA molecules instead of proteins; this deal included a $75 million upfront payment plus additional milestone payments.
Beyond DBT 3757, the acquisition will provide Amgen with small molecule programs aimed at blocking the RNA editing enzyme ADAR1 and the SMO protein—both under preclinical investigation for potential use against various cancers.
