Amgen to Open Large Space in Bay Area

Amgen Inc. on Monday signed a lease for a 240,000-square-foot facility in South San Francisco. The site, under construction, is set to open in early 2022. The nine-story building will house more than 600 Amgen employees focused on cardiometabolic, inflammation and oncology research. Amgen said workers from the Thousand Oaks headquarters would not be relocated there. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The lease is with BioMed Realty, and the new space is called Oyster Point within the Gateway of Pacific campus. Amgen has had a presence in the South Bay area for 15 years, most recently at 1120 Veterans Blvd., occupying 400,000 square feet between four buildings. The South Bay team will continue to develop treatments for autoimmune, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders from its new location. Research and development for Amgen’s cholesterol treatment Repatha and bone-mass drug Prolia were some of the breakthrough projects scientists worked on in the area. The new facility, complete with modular green wet labs, meeting spaces and an amenity center including dining options, a health club and outdoor recreation areas, is replacing lab and office space on Veterans and Oyster Point, the report said. “At Amgen South San Francisco, we are home to top scientific talent, integrating human genetics with core biology and molecular engineering to discover and develop first-in-class therapies,” Flavius Martin, vice president of research, oncology and inflammation at Amgen South San Francisco, said in a statement. “The new location will foster even greater collaboration across our strong scientific team, accelerate the R&D process, and provide a venue for increased engagement with the Bay Area’s abundant scientific and educational communities.” BioMed, a Blackstone company, last year leased 509,000 square feet of the 1.3 million-square-foot campus to the Chicago-based AbbVie Inc., another biotech company, according to a report from the San Francisco Business Times.