THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., May 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) today launched the Breakaway Challenge initiative, a national social fitness program to motivate individuals to take action in their health and to support the fight against heart disease and cancer. Amgen's Breakaway Challenge joins together Breakaway from Cancer® and Breakaway from Heart Disease™ and serves as a complementary component to its title sponsorship of the Amgen Tour of California, a world-class cycling event that takes place May 12 – 18, 2019.
The Breakaway Challenge urges participants to turn their walking, running or cycling miles into support for eight nonprofit advocacy organizations that are dedicated to cancer and heart disease research. For a six-week period starting May 1 through June 12, 2019, Amgen will donate $1 dollar for every Breakaway Challenge mile completed by initiative participants, up to $400,000. The donations will be evenly distributed among the eight nonprofits.
"Making a positive difference in the world is at the heart of what we do at Amgen, and it goes beyond developing vital medicines to creating powerful connections with the communities we serve," said Murdo Gordon, executive vice president of Global Commercial Operations at Amgen. "The Breakaway Challenge encourages personal health while also supporting organizations that work with patients and caregivers in the fight against cancer and heart disease."
Amgen has teamed with Strava, a social fitness app that tracks cycling and running activities, to create the Breakaway Challenge. Strava will aggregate the total miles contributed to the Breakaway Challenge with the goal to collectively reach as many miles as possible with Amgen matching the first 400,000 miles with a $400,000 donation evenly distributed to the nonprofit partners. Participants can join the Challenge by downloading the Strava app to their mobile device and joining the Breakaway Challenge, or by visiting https://www.AmgenBreakawayChallenge.com.
In addition, the Amgen Cycling Club, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization led by athletes and cyclists who enjoy spending time outdoors on their bikes both in Southern California and around the world, is joining the efforts of the Breakaway Challenge by providing a fundraising platform through the MobileCause app during the Challenge period. The total proceeds raised through the MobileCause fundraising platform during the Breakaway Challenge period will be also evenly distributed to the eight nonprofit Breakaway partners by the Amgen Cycling Club.
About Breakaway Challenge Beneficiaries
Breakaway from Heart Disease™ nonprofit partners include the American Heart Association (AHA) and FH Foundation.
Breakaway from Cancer® nonprofit partners include Prevent Cancer Foundation, Cancer Support Community, Patient Advocate Foundation, National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, Susan G. Komen and Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.
About Breakaway from Heart Disease™
Breakaway from Heart Disease™ encourages Americans to take charge of their risk of heart disease and represents a partnership among Amgen, the American Heart Association and FH Foundation. This initiative is dedicated to empowering everyone to have a plan for good heart health through diagnostic screenings as well as information and tools related to physical activity and healthy eating. Amgen also has a partnership with Schwinn to encourage heart healthy activities like bike riding.
About Breakaway from Cancer®
Founded in 2005, Breakaway from Cancer® is a national initiative to increase awareness of important resources available to people affected by cancer, from prevention through survivorship. Breakaway from Cancer® represents a partnership between Amgen and six nonprofit organizations dedicated to empowering patients with education, resources and hope, offering a broad range of services to people affected by cancer.
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 biologics manufacturing 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 the world's largest independent biotechnology company, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.
For more information, visit www.amgen.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/amgen.
CONTACT: Amgen, Thousand Oaks
Kristen Davis, 805-447-3008 (media)
Jessica Akopyan, 805-447-0974 (media)
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