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The Voice of Bioscience in Ontario



Outstanding Canadian Teachers Will Be Recognized in Communities Where Amgen Operates

MISSISSAUGA, ON. (Nov. 1, 2007) – Amgen Canada today announced that, for the first time, the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence (AASTE) will be open to teachers in Canada. The award is designed to recognize and honour extraordinary science teachers at the K-12 level in British Columbia and Ontario where Amgen has facilities, who significantly impact their students through exemplary science teaching and who achieve demonstrated results in student learning.

With a longstanding commitment to science education, Amgen established the teacher awards program to promote and encourage science excellence in public and private schools. Since the program’s inception in 1992, Amgen has awarded more than $1.7 million to educators who have made exceptional science-teaching contributions and who have significantly impacted the lives of their students. Amgen is expanding its program this year, and will honor a total of 32 teachers in California, Colorado, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Washington, British Columbia and Ontario.

“At Amgen, we are strongly committed to science education,” says Dr. Daniel Billen, Vice President and General Manager, Amgen Canada. “We have the utmost respect for those extraordinary educators who are able to inspire students to embrace a lifetime of learning. It is a proud moment for our company to bring this rewarding program to Canada to honour those science teachers who make a positive difference in the lives of their students.”

In Canada, the 2 selected winners will receive the following benefits:
•     An unrestricted cash award of $5,000CAD;
•     A restricted $5,000CAD cash grant to the recipient’s school for the expansion or enhancement of a school science program, science resources, or the professional development of the school’s science teachers

Applicants are also required to submit an innovative lesson plan that they have successfully incorporated into their classroom and can be shared with other teachers. A panel of independent judges will select the winners based on the following criteria: creativity of teaching methods; innovative lesson plan; effectiveness in the classroom and the plan for the use of grant money to improve science education resources in their schools.

A select number of the lesson plans submitted by 2008 AASTE Award winners will be posted to Amgen’s website, with the intent that other teachers will benefit from these innovative materials. Select lesson plans from 2007 AASTE Award winners are available for download at no cost; educators are encouraged to review and implement any of these plans into their own curriculum.

Those interested in applying should visit http://www.amgen.com/citizenship/aaste.html for more information. Applications must be postmarked by January 31, 2008 to be valid. Winners will be notified in May 2008.

As a leader in innovation, Amgen Canada understands the value of science. With main operations located in Mississauga, Ontario’s vibrant biomedical cluster, and its research facility in Burnaby, British Columbia, Amgen Canada has been an important contributor to advancements in science and innovation in Canada since 1991. The company contributes to the development of new therapies or new uses for existing medicines in partnership with many of Canada’s leading health-care, academic, research, government and patient organizations.

About Amgen
Amgen discovers, develops and delivers innovative human therapeutics. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen was one of the first companies to realize the new science’s promise by bringing safe and effective medicines from lab, to manufacturing plant, to patient. Amgen therapeutics have changed the practice of medicine, helping millions of people around the world in the fight against cancer, kidney disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other serious illnesses. With a broad and deep pipeline of potential new medicines, Amgen remains committed to advancing science to dramatically improve people’s lives. To learn more about our pioneering science and our vital medicines, visit www.amgen.com.

CONTACT: Natasha Bond                         
Amgen Canada
(905) 285-3007
natashab@amgen.com

Angela Baker
Hill and Knowlton Canada
(416) 413-4750
angela.baker@hillandknowlton.ca