Amgen to Sponsor BioLabs LA Program for Startups

Amgen Inc. on Wednesday announced it will sponsor BioLabs LA at the Lundquist Institute, a biotech co-working space in Torrance, via a three-year Golden Ticket program.Through the program, Thousand Oaks-based Amgen will launch one Golden Ticket award each year of its sponsorship, providing the winning startup with one year of lab space at BioLabs LA and access to lab infrastructure, programming and business development mentorship.The sponsorship’s monetary value was not disclosed.“Recognizing the growing biotech ecosystem in Southern California, Amgen’s sponsorship of the Golden Ticket with BioLabs aims to further foster early-stage life science companies right in the backyard of Amgen’s headquarters,” Dr. Philip Tagari, vice president of therapeutic discovery at Amgen, said in a statement.Amgen has been awarding its Golden Tickets for a number of years now, facilitating innovation at biotech hubs in San Francisco, Boston and Toronto.Added Tagari: “It's very rewarding to be part of the growing energy, reach and enthusiasm of the many talented scientific entrepreneurs across the broader Los Angeles area. BioLabs is a model for how life science startups can grow and thrive in a rapidly emerging bioscience community."BioLabs LA at the Lundquist Institute is located at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Its lab space helps startup biotech companies accelerate the development of new therapies, medical devices and diagnostics.Shares of Amgen (AMGN) closed down $3.41, or 1.4 percent, to $237.08 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday, a day when the overall Nasdaq was down 2.2 percent.