SAN FRANCISCO, June 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/
-- Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) and MBC BioLabs (formerly QB3@953)
today announced that Regencor and Nitrome Biosciences have each
been awarded an Amgen Golden Ticket to MBC BioLabs. The companies
receive priority admission or renewal for one year of lab
bench space and access to core facilities at the MBC BioLabs life
sciences incubator, as well as connections to Amgen's scientific
and business leaders to help advance their scientific programs.
Amgen has been sponsoring MBC BioLabs since 2016 to
assist high-potential and innovative early-stage life science
and biotech companies in their efforts to accelerate the
development of new therapies to improve human health.
The 2019 Amgen Golden Ticket winners were chosen by a team of
scientific leaders who evaluated the strength and novelty of their
scientific rationale, subject matter expertise, and business plan
viability.
"Amgen is dedicated to addressing important scientific questions
to advance care and improve the lives of patients with serious
diseases, including oncology, cardiovascular, immunological and
neurological diseases," said Saptarsi Haldar, vice president of
research at Amgen South San Francisco. "Regencor and Nitrome
Biosciences are doing extraordinary work in these therapeutic areas
and funding such early-stage innovation is critical. We are happy
to support their efforts as they tackle complex research problems
and work to resolve unmet medical needs. Congratulations to both
companies and to the promising scientific entrepreneurs that
represent them."
Regencor Inc. is focused on developing a new therapy
to regenerate the human heart after a heart attack. The therapy is
delivered by existing standard of care coronary revascularization
procedures. The company has discovered that a hypo-glycosylated
variant of the human protein, Follistatin-Like 1 (hgFSTL-1),
regenerates lost cardiac muscle and blood vessels, and
significantly reduces scar volume when delivered to the adult
mammalian heart after infarction. This structural regeneration
translates into sustained and clinically significant improvement in
left ventricular performance measured by echocardiography and MRI
imaging.
The therapeutic protein is packaged into two alternative
biodegradable, sustained release formulations that allow delivery
to the heart at the time of coronary revascularization: the
EpicaPatch and the MyoBeads. The EpicaPatch is a compressed
collagen matrix containing hgFSTL1 that is fixed to the surface of
the heart overlying the infarct zone at the time of coronary artery
bypass graft placement. The MyoBeads are microparticles containing
hgFSTL1 that are infused via the infarct related artery through the
same catheter used to perform the balloon angioplasty/stent
placement at the time of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
The goal of the therapy is to regenerate cardiac muscle, restore
contractile function and prevent progression to heart failure after
myocardial infarction.
"We are excited to receive Amgen's Golden Ticket Award, which
will support our laboratory bench work at the San Carlos MBC
BioLabs facility," said Tom Okarma,
chairman and chief executive officer of Regencor. "We look forward
to interacting with Amgen's Cardiometabolic R&D group to help
us advance our mission: to regenerate the human heart after a heart
attack, thereby restoring cardiac function, reducing progression to
heart failure, and improving the quality of life for heart attack
patients worldwide."
Nitrome Biosciences is developing a platform around a
newly identified class of enzymes. These enzymes catalyze
protein post translation modification(s) that underpin
neurodegenerative diseases and age-related disorders. The
company is currently developing drugs targeting an enzyme to treat
Parkinson's Disease. Moving forward, they will apply their
proprietary platform to validate additional targets and develop
medicines for neurodegeneration, inflammation and age-related
disorders.
"We are thrilled to have won Amgen's Golden Ticket," said
Irene Griswold-Prenner, chief
executive officer and chief scientific officer of Nitrome
Biosciences. "This comes at a critical juncture for Nitrome
Biosciences as we are currently initiating discussions with venture
firms for Series A funding. Amgen's interest in our approach
provides important additional validation for Nitrome. MBC BioLabs'
facilities and support continue to be instrumental in fostering
Nitrome's rapid research progression."
"We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Amgen in
providing entrepreneurial scientists with the resources they need
to drive success of some of the most innovative ideas," said
Doug Crawford, manager and founder
at MBC BioLabs. "Amgen delivers the deep industry insights and
expert guidance and MBC BioLabs provides a platform to get
experimental results quickly. Our expanding incubator network, now
with locations in San Francisco
and San Carlos, provides
fully-equipped, state-of-the-art facilities that allow early-stage
companies to focus on what matters most - generating the hard data
that transforms an idea into tangible proof."
About Amgen
Amgen is committed to unlocking the
potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses
by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative
human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like
advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and
understand the fundamentals of human biology.
Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages
its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes
and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology pioneer
since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading
independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of
patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines
with breakaway potential.
For more information, please visit us at www.amgen.com or follow
us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
About MBC BioLabs
MBC BioLabs is dedicated
to helping life-science startups succeed. By renting space as small
as a single lab bench and providing entrepreneurial scientists with
access to millions of dollars of equipment, we allow companies to
be fast, focused, and frugal. We now have two sites: one in
San Francisco's Dogpatch
neighborhood and an expanding campus in San Carlos. Each site has a complete
molecular biology core facility that allows companies to do
experiments on day one, not year one. We also have partnerships
with AbbVie, Amgen, Celgene, Eli Lilly, GE, J&J/JLABS, Nitto,
Toray, and Tosoh, and a built-in VC, Mission Bay
Capital. This access provides our entrepreneurs with
valuable insights about where to focus their efforts and speeds the
pipeline of innovation for our partners. These labs have
truly enabled awesome: Since our opening in 2013 we have
helped launch 128 companies, and these companies have gone on to
raise over $3.2B. For more
information, visit www.MBCBioLabs.com.
CONTACT:
Amgen
Kristen Davis
805-447-3008
kristend@amgen.com
MBC BioLabs
Linda Eng
415-348-8287
linda.eng@mbcbiolabs.com
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SOURCE Amgen