CARY, N.C. (August 11, 2014) – The CEO Roundtable on Cancer today announced that Amgen, Inc., one of the world’s leading biotechnology companies, has received CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ accreditation. This achievement recognizes employers’ commitment to reducing cancer risk by promoting healthy lifestyle choices, encouraging early detection through cancer screenings, and ensuring access to quality treatment for employees and covered family members.
The CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ was created by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, a nonprofit organization of CEOs founded by former President George H.W. Bush, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and many of its designated cancer centers, as well as other leading health organizations. The Gold Standard requires companies to take extensive actions in five key areas of health and wellness to reduce the risk of cancer in the workplace.
“CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation is a testament to Amgen’s acknowledgement that improving public health begins by first working to improve the health of a company’s own employees,” said Christopher A. Viehbacher, chief executive officer of Sanofi and chairman of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer.
To earn Gold Standard accreditation, a company must establish programs to reduce cancer risk by discouraging tobacco use; encouraging physical activity; promoting healthy diet and nutrition; detecting cancer at its earliest stages; and providing access to quality care, including participation in clinical trials. Today, more than four million employees and family members are benefiting from the vision and leadership of the more than 160 employers who have chosen to become Gold Standard accredited employers.
“We are honored to join other leading organizations in the commitment to a healthy workforce as a CEO Cancer Gold Standard accredited corporation,” said Robert A. Bradway, chairman and chief executive officer of Amgen. “Our mission at Amgen is to serve patients, especially those suffering from serious illness, which makes us acutely aware of the toll cancer can have on patients and their loved ones. In addition to numerous health and wellness programs for our staff members, Amgen supports educational programs and resources ranging from prevention to survivorship for those outside of our company who are affected by cancer.”
For more than 30 years, Amgen has translated the power of science and biotechnology into innovative therapies that save and improve people’s lives. Amgen’s Oncology business focuses its efforts on some of the “toughest cancers” where there is a gap in therapeutic offerings or current therapies have limited impact on the course of the disease and patient survival. Amgen’s oncology medicines are used in more than a dozen different cancers, ranging from blood cancers to solid tumors, in areas of supportive care and targeted therapeutics with additional investigational therapies for oncology in its late-stage pipeline. Today, more than 60 percent of Amgen’s open clinical trials are focused in oncology.
In addition to NCI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 NCI-designated cancer centers and more than 60 other hospitals have earned Gold Standard accreditation. CEOs from many industries are keenly aware of the life-improving impact they can have on health and controlling healthcare costs when they address cancer and other chronic diseases. Gold Standard employers include Aetna, Avis, Blue Cross affiliates, Budget Group, Dell, Harvard School of Public Health, Hogan Lovells, Johnson & Johnson, Lowe’s, Novartis, SAS and State Farm.
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.
About The CEO Roundtable on Cancer
The CEO Roundtable on Cancer was founded in 2001, when former President George H.W. Bush challenged a group of executives to “do something bold and venturesome about cancer within your own corporate families.” The CEOs responded by creating and encouraging the widespread adoption of the CEO Cancer Gold Standard which calls for organizations to evaluate their health benefits and workplace culture and take extensive, concrete actions in five key areas of health and wellness to fight cancer in the workplace. For more information on the CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ and the free web-based accreditation process and support, please visit www.CancerGoldStandard.org.
# # #
For more information:
CEO Roundtable on Cancer
Therese Martin, Project Assistant
P: 919-531-3123