BERLIN, June 10, 2003 - Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN), the world's largest biotechnology company, today announced that Barry M. Brenner, MD, of the Harvard Medical School and director emeritus of the Renal Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, has been awarded the inaugural Amgen Prize for Therapeutic Advances in Nephrology by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) at the 2003 World Congress of Nephrology. The Amgen Prize recognizes those who have increased the understanding and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD), through basic or clinical scientific research, leading to therapeutic advances.
Dr. Brenner was selected by the ISN as the first recipient of the Amgen Prize to honor his work in establishing the foundations of scientific understanding of CKD progression and its delay by blocking the renin angiotensin system in experimental and clinical studies. His insights have benefited millions of patients with diabetes, hypertension and CKD.
"Chronic kidney disease is highly prevalent around the globe and is quickly emerging as a major public health concern," said Roger Perlmutter, MD, PhD, Amgen's executive vice president of research and development. "Dr. Brenner's pioneering work has laid the groundwork for understanding the underlying mechanisms of CKD, as well as many critical advances in patient care. We support ISN in presenting him with the first annual Amgen Prize."
Nominations from the United States, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region were evaluated by an advisory board chaired by John H. Dirks, MD, of the University of Toronto, which included:
• Steve Hebert, MD, of Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., U.S.A.
• Kiyoshi Kurokawa, MD, of Tokai University, Isehara, Japan
• Andrew J. Rees, MD, of University of Aberdeen, Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, Aberdeen, U.K.
Recipients of the Amgen Prize receive $50,000 USD.
Amgen is a global biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets important human therapeutics based on advances in cellular and molecular biology.
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