[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 146 (Saturday, October 8, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
AMGEN, THOUSAND OAKS, CA BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPANY, SELECTED TO RECEIVE THE 
                   1994 NATIONAL MEDAL OF TECHNOLOGY

                                 ______


                       HON. ANTHONY C. BEILENSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 7, 1994

  Mr. BEILENSON. Mr. Speaker, in 1980, only 14 years ago, Amgen--a 
start-up biotechnology company--set up business in Thousand Oaks, CA, 
with a few talented people and a vision.
  Amgen now has more than 3,300 people employed worldwide, with more 
than 2,700 of them in Thousand Oaks, which I have the honor of 
representing. The visionaries who created Amgen did so in the belief 
that the infant science of biotechnology would ultimately yield 
breakthrough medical treatments.
  Now, with the U.S. Department of Commerce's recent announcement that 
it is awarding the 1994 National Medal of Technology to Amgen, the 
company's pioneering role in biotechnology and its success in bringing 
remarkable medicines to patients around the world have been officially 
recognized.
  On October 25, the President will present to Amgen this prestigious 
National Medal of Technology, making Amgen the first biotechnology 
company to be so honored. The Presidential Citation to Amgen reads:

       For its leadership in developing innovative and important 
     commercial therapeutics based on advances in cellular and 
     molecular biology for delivery to critically ill patients 
     throughout the world.

  The National Medal of Technology is the American equivalent of the 
Nobel Prize. The award recognizes the recipient's excellence in 
technology innovation and commercialization. Amgen's breakthrough 
medicines Epogen and Neupogen provide lifesaving and improved quality 
of life benefits to hundreds of thousands of kidney dialysis and cancer 
patients.
  Amgen recently dedicated a new 225,000 square-foot research facility 
at its Thousand Oaks headquarters complex in which its outstanding 
group of research scientists are working on new technologies for 
product candidate discovery and pre-clinical development and a network 
of academic and corporate collaborations to identify new medicines 
through research and testing.
  Amgen is harnessing innovation to eliminate or alleviate many of the 
most serious life-threatening illnesses. Amgen scientists are trying to 
develop drugs to treat crippling neurological conditions such as 
Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's, and Parkinson's diseases and inflammatory 
disorders like asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. Amgen is conducting 
clinical trials with an interferon that may provide a safer and more 
effective treatment for hepatitis C viral infection. And, research by 
this company may be the source of relief and even cures in the area of 
inflammation and diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, adult 
respiratory distress syndrome, and asthma.
  After only 14 years, Amgen has emerged as the world's leading 
producer and manufacturer of important medicines based on cellular and 
molecular biology. All of us in southern California are proud of 
Amgen's accomplishments--the National Medal of Technology is only the 
latest in a series of high honors and awards for the company and its 
employees.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend Amgen and its chairman, Gordon M. Binder, for 
this latest honor and for Amgen's record of outstanding service to the 
community.

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