Amgen agreed to acquire Oxford spinout Dark Blue Therapeutics in a deal worth up to $840 million, adding a preclinical small-molecule degrader that targets MLLT1/3 and other protein-degradation programs. Company statements and press releases described preclinical anti-leukemia activity and Amgen named the asset a strategic fit for its leukemia and targeted protein degradation efforts. Jay Bradner, Amgen’s head of R&D, said the acquisition advances the company’s strategy to invest early in rising mechanisms for difficult-to-treat blood cancers. The deal folds Dark Blue’s discovery engine and early degraders into Amgen’s research organization and positions Amgen to move the lead program toward IND-enabling work. Dark Blue was spun out of University of Oxford research; Amgen emphasized the transaction expands its leukemia pipeline and could support combination strategies to overcome resistance. Regulatory filings and company releases will determine timing for formal development steps and human testing.