Amgen and Caltech Establish Partnership in Health Sciences

Caltech and Amgen have joined forces in the pursuit of foundational discoveries in the biological sciences through a multifaceted new partnership spanning research, graduate student training, and shared resources.

"The work we do is built upon the foundation of basic discoveries in biology," says Alexander Kamb (PhD '88), Amgen's senior vice president of Discovery Research. "We look forward to strengthening and extending this foundation through our connection with Caltech."

Caltech received its first gift from Amgen in 1981, just one year after the company was formed. Over the past three decades, Amgen has provided support for a variety of educational programs and investigations at Caltech. Today, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading independent biotechnology companies, and it has now entered into a collaborative research agreement for joint investigations with Caltech that will leverage the two institutions' strengths in discovery, and translational and clinical science.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Amgen will fund up to five research projects per year for three years. Bridging the divisions of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Biology and Biological Engineering, and Engineering and Applied Science, the projects will focus on large- and small-molecule drug discovery, drug-delivery devices, and diagnostic technologies. Amgen will also provide support for Amgen Graduate Student Fellows in Caltech's interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics.

In addition to fellowship and research support, Amgen has chosen Caltech as its first partner to access the Amgen Biology-Enabling Resource, a searchable database comprising more than 1,000 items, including molecules, peptides, antibodies, and engineered cell lines acquired through years of discovery efforts. Amgen will have no claim to ownership of intellectual property to discoveries that may ensue. Over time, Amgen will extend access to other research institutions and, as specific materials are depleted, add others to the catalog.

This comprehensive agreement with Amgen exemplifies Caltech's commitment to building strategic partnerships to optimize the Institute's capabilities and help solve pressing problems for the benefit of the public. This and other such relationships with corporations, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other institutions, focus on transferring technology from Caltech's campus to industry.

"Each industry collaboration has a unique scope and focus, but all share a goal of transforming new research findings into applications that will benefit society," explains Caltech Vice Provost, Mory Gharib, the Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Bioinspired Engineering. "The hope is that the Caltech–Amgen partnership will enable our teams to swiftly convert laboratory discoveries into therapeutics or devices that will improve patients' lives."