AMGEN AND BIOLABS LA AT THE LUNDQUIST INSTITUTE ANNOUNCE THAT KARMA BIOTECHNOLOGIES WILL RECEIVE THE SECOND AMGEN GOLDEN TICKET

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Jan. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) and BioLabs LA at the Lundquist Institute today announced that Karma Biotechnologies has been awarded the second Amgen Golden Ticket in Southern California. Karma Biotechnologies will receive one year of lab space at BioLabs LA at the Lundquist Institute (TLI) as well as additional facility benefits and connections to Amgen's scientific and business leaders.

The  Amgen Golden Ticket winner was chosen by an internal team of Amgen scientific leaders at a virtual pitch event. Five finalists pitched their business plans before Amgen's internal committee that evaluated the strength and novelty of their scientific rationale, subject matter expertise and business plan viability. This is the second of three Amgen Golden Tickets to be awarded through 2023 to help accelerate life science start-ups in Southern California.

Perspectives on announcement:

• "Amgen's partnership with BioLabs LA at the Lundquist Institute is contributing to the acceleration of bioscience innovation in the Los Angeles area, aligning with our vision to progress the development of breakthrough therapies to serve patients suffering from serious illness. We are enthusiastic about the Xavine™ platform being developed by Karma Biotechnologies, and look forward to engaging with the team as they advance novel therapies to treat autoimmune diseases." – Philip Tagari, vice president of Therapeutic Discovery at Amgen
• "BioLabs LA at the Lundquist Institute is very pleased to participate in another successful Golden Ticket round with Amgen, a true pioneer in biotechnology. After seeing how well the first awardee is performing, under Amgen's generous guidance, we are excited to see the innovation that spurs from this year's winner, Karma Biotechnologies. It is such an honor to be a part of the collaborative network that is growing here in LA." - Lindsay Bourgeois, Site Director, BioLabs LA
• "We are thrilled and deeply honored that the experts at Amgen see the value and novelty of our Xavine™ tolerogenic vaccine platform for treating and preventing autoimmunity and allergies. Having access to the phenomenal resources at BioLabs LA and Amgen's clinical development expertise will rapidly accelerate Karma's R&D, and help us make a difference in patients' lives that much sooner. Collaborations such as these have fueled an explosion in the quality and quantity of biotech startups in the Los Angeles ecosystem in recent years, from therapeutics to biomanufacturing to agricultural technology. Karma is proud to be part of LA's vibrant, collaborative and growing biotech ecosystem." - Andrew Gray, PhD, Co-founder and CEO, Karma Biotechnologies

Amgen supports life science start-ups through Golden Ticket awards and affiliated engagement in other Biotech Innovative hubs, including San Francisco, Boston and Toronto. Karma Biotechnologies is the 26^th Golden Ticket winner since program inception in 2014.

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.  

Amgen is one of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is also part of the Nasdaq-100 index. In 2021, Amgen was named one of the 25 World's Best Workplaces™ by Fortune and Great Place to Work™ and one of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world by Barron's.

For more information, visit www.amgen.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/amgen.  

About the Lundquist Institute: Research with reach™
The Lundquist Institute is an engine of innovation with a global reach and a 69-year reputation of improving and saving lives. With its new medical research building, its state-of-the-art incubator, "BioLabs at the Lundquist," existing laboratory and support infrastructure, and the development of a new 15-acre business tech park, the Lundquist Institute serves as a hub for the Los Angeles area's burgeoning biotech scene. The research institute has over 100 principal investigators (PhDs, MDs, and MD/PhDs) working on more than 600 research studies, including therapies for numerous, and often fatal orphan diseases. Find out more at https://lundquist.org.

About BioLabs LA at the Lundquist Institute
Encompassing the entire third floor of the Lundquist Institute's new Medical Research Lab building, BioLabs LA offers shared lab facilities designed for high-potential, early-stage life since companies. BioLabs creates co-working communities that pair premium, fully equipped and supported lab and office space with unparalleled access for entrepreneurs to networking, industry partners, and capital. Find out more at https://www.biolabs.io/la.

About Karma Biotechnologies, Inc.
Karma Biotechnologies is a Los Angeles startup dedicated to solving autoimmunity, allergies, and food sensitivities with our Xavine™ tolerogenic vaccine platform. General immune suppression is still the standard of care for most autoimmune disease patients; there is a critical unmet need to develop antigen-specific therapies that inhibit only the disease-causing rogue immune cells. To meet this need, Karma is leveraging expertise in immunology and lipid nanoparticle engineering to develop tolerogenic vaccines designed to elicit antigen-specific immune tolerance in vivo. For more information, visit www.karmabiotech.com.

CONTACT

Amgen, Thousand Oaks
Michael Strapazon, 805-313-5553 (media)

The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Keith B. Hoffman, Ph.D., (310) 974-9301, [email protected]

BioLabs LA
Lindsay Bourgeois, (978) 852-1081, [email protected]

SOURCE Amgen