Amgen Celebrates 25 Years in Thousand Oaks

The Ventura County Star has a great story on Amgen's 25th Anniversary:

Amgen's success aids biotech field

At 25, T.O. drug firm sticks to tried-and-true methods

By Allison Bruce, and Gretchen Macchiarella
abruce@VenturaCountyStar.com, gmacchiarella@VenturaCountyStar.com
April 10, 2005

Juan Carlo/Star staff Tibor Gyuris works on cloning bacteria in an Amgen laboratory. Gyuris has been employed by the Thousand Oaks biotechnology company for 12 years doing this kind of research.

Dennis Fenton remembers arriving in Thousand Oaks more than 20 years ago to interview for a job with a small start-up firm called Applied Molecular Genetics.

The company shared a small building with a ball-bearing manufacturer and a choral group. Fenton was greeted by a secretary and then-CEO George Rathmann.

Rathmann promised him the company would one day be bigger and better than pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. — Fenton's employer. Lured by the

RELATED LINKS Multimedia: Audio slide shows and interviews Graphic: Financials Graphic: Products Graphic: Properties Graphic: Timeline

promise of success and Southern California sunshine, Fenton ended up accepting a job as a research scientist, becoming one of the first 15 employees.

Today, the company is called Amgen Inc., the world's largest biotech firm in terms of revenue, with eight drugs on the market and a pipeline of 40 compounds being tested as possible new treatments.

Read the rest here.

It was certainly a pleasure to treat many many Amgen employees in my dental practice in Thousand Oaks. Many friendships were nurtured with the many families I treated.

Although most of the early days employees have now retired and moved from the Conejo Valley, Amgen remains an employee and employee-family friendly employer. From their child care facility to their relaxed working environment - who would not want to work for them.

Much success Amgen in your next 25 years!