The US biotech firm acquires the Oxford-based discovery and development biotech for $840 million to boost its presence in leukaemia therapeutics.
US biotech company Amgen has acquired Oxford-based discovery and development biotech firm Dark Blue Therapeutics for $840 million (£624.6 million).
Dark Blue Therapeutics is a biotech spinout from the University of Oxford and is focused on the next generation of precision oncology medicines. The company’s strategy has been to leverage partnerships with academic experts to exploit insights into novel Achilles heel vulnerabilities and dependencies in cancer.
The firm’s lead candidate DBT 3757, currently in IND-enabling studies, is a therapeutic strategy for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), with the potential for producing strong, broad and durable responses as an effective single-agent therapy.
“Amgen has the expertise, resources and commitment to accelerate development of DBT 3757 to treat patients with acute leukaemia, including those that do not respond to current standard therapies,” said Dark Blue’s chief executive Alastair MacKinnon.
The firm’s favourable safety profile also suggests that it could serve as a foundation for combination treatments earlier in the therapeutic course.
“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,” said Jay Bradner, executive vice president of research and development at Amgen.
