Amgen Acquires UK’s Dark Blue Therapeutics For Up To €718M To Advance Precision Oncology

Dark Blue’s lead candidate, DBT-3757, a first-in-class therapy for leukemia, is currently in IND-enabling studies. Investors include Oxford Science Enterprises, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Evotec.

“Amgen has the expertise, resources and commitment to accelerate development of DBT 3757 to treat patients with acute leukemia, including those that do not respond to current standard therapies. With its world-leading capabilities in oncology and deep experience in developing, manufacturing, and commercializing novel medicines, we are confident that Amgen will build on our pre-clinical work to bring DBT 3757 to the patients who urgently need new treatment options,” comments Alastair MacKinnon, CEO of Dark Blue Therapeutics.

In 2025 Europe’s startup ecosystem saw strong investment in oncology and adjacent biotech platforms providing context for Amgen’s acquisition of Dark Blue Therapeutics.

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Notable funding rounds included Tubulis (€308M Series C) Adcytherix (€105M Series A) and Artios Pharma (€99M Series D) to advance cancer therapies. In the UK, CHARM Therapeutics raised €68.5M for AI-driven drug discovery, while T-Therapeutics secured €27.5M for immuno-oncology programs. Elsewhere, Hedera Dx (€15M, Switzerland), Adaptam Therapeutics (€3M, Spain) and Lithea (€851K, Sweden) also drew investment.

Altogether these deals total around €627M in disclosed funding highlighting Europe’s active oncology investment landscape and placing Dark Blue’s €718M acquisition at the upper end of strategic valuations.

“We extend our sincere thanks to the entire Dark Blue team for their dedication and hard work, and to our investors OSE, BMS and Evotec, whose invaluable support has made this achievement possible,” adds MacKinnon.

Founded in 2020 Dark Blue Therapeutics is a drug discovery biotech leveraging cancer biology insights from Oxford University to develop innovative precision medicines targeting novel vulnerabilities.

Its lead candidate, DBT 3757, currently in IND-enabling studies, is a first-in-class therapy for acute myeloid and lymphoblastic leukemia, showing potential for strong, durable single-agent responses. With a favorable safety profile, it could also serve as a backbone for earlier combination treatments.

Dark Blue translates cutting-edge discoveries into previously unexploited “Achilles-heel” cancer dependencies with its MLLT 1/3 program supported by Oxford research and pre-Seed funding from the LAB282 initiative.

“Acute myeloid leukemia 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,” says Jay Bradner, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen.

“This acquisition complements and extends our research in targeted protein degradation and leukemia therapeutics advancing our strategy to invest early in rising medicines for novel therapeutic targets. The adjacency of this programme to our considered expertise in cancer biology will propel MLLT1/3-targeting medicines to clinical investigation for patients facing the challenging diagnosis of AML,” he adds.

About Amgen

Amgen combines biology and technology to tackle the world’s toughest diseases and improve lives. A pioneer in biotechnology, the company leverages human genetics and innovation to expand its robust pipeline, developing medicines for cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, inflammatory conditions and rare diseases while advancing the frontiers of science.