Leading global biotechnology company Amgen and NSG BioLabs, Singapore's largest and leading provider of biotechnology (biotech) co-working laboratories and offices, announced Albatroz Therapeutics as the winner of the first Amgen Golden Ticket in Singapore. Albatroz Therapeutics will be rewarded a one-year free residency in NSG Biolabs' fully-equipped, turnkey, and certified BSL-2 laboratory, as well as additional facility benefits and connections to Amgen's scientific and business leaders.

The Amgen Golden Ticket winner was chosen by an internal team of Amgen scientific leaders at a virtual pitch event. In the final round of the competition, 5 finalists pitched their business plans before Amgen's internal scientific committee that evaluated the strength and novelty of the participants' scientific rationale, subject matter expertise and business plan viability. Albatroz Therapeutics was announced as the winner at an award ceremony held at the Amgen Singapore Manufacturing facility on 15 March, where Singapore Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Mr. Alvin Tan, was the guest of honour. In addition to accessing NSG BioLabs' capabilities, the award winner's access to a vast network of scientific and business leaders is a key proponent of the Golden Ticket prize – which Albatroz Therapeutics can now leverage to execute its scientific goals.

"Amgen's exciting new partnership with NSG BioLabs at Biopolis is contributing to the evolution of Singapore's biotech ecosystem – aligning with our mission to discover, develop and deliver life-changing medicines to patients everywhere. We are excited about the universal cancer therapy and anti-arthritic platform being developed by Albatroz Therapeutics in Singapore, and we look forward to engaging with the team as they help to advance the leveraging of novel biotherapeutics to treat grievous illnesses plaguing our world today," said Alan Russell, Vice President, Biologics Therapeutic Discovery, Amgen.

Launched in early 2022, the Golden Ticket sponsorship^[1] was the first sponsorship announced by the NSG Tomorrow Program to accelerate the growth of innovative biotech startups and aid them in executing their vision. NSG Tomorrow seeks to provide crucial support, network access, and environment to empower ambitious biotech startups. With two more Amgen Golden Tickets being up for grabs over the next two years, Amgen and NSG BioLabs stand by their commitment to achieving a shared vision of helping biotech startups grow and facilitating Southeast Asia's transition into a regional biotech powerhouse.

"Singapore is looking to generate a good pipeline of therapeutic assets that will contribute to the health of people in Singapore and around the world. To achieve this, the right infrastructure and resources are necessary to enable the growth of biotech startups here. Amgen and NSG BioLabs are key players that the Singapore Government has anchored in the ecosystem. We are happy to support this partnership, as it provides mentorship and support that can accelerate a startup's journey in this space," said Soh Leng Wan, Assistant CEO, Manufacturing and Engineering, Enterprise Singapore.

Launched in 2019, NSG BioLabs has helped its resident startups achieve notable breakthroughs, achieving over S$100 million in funds raised, major partnerships, and new product launches since 2020. Albatroz Therapeutics now joins over 20 local and international resident companies with diverse expertise in transformative and life-changing technologies and applications ranging from genome editing to cancer immunotherapy, artificial intelligence, neurodegeneration drug discovery, precision medicine, synthetic biology and more.

"The Amgen Golden Ticket is a transformative prize for biotech startups as it addresses the pressing concerns of a lack of resources, access, and support. Our dynamic winner, Albatroz Therapeutics, will join our diverse community of residents that already includes successful scientific innovators such as L'Oréal Research & Innovation and Oxford Nanopore Technologies, in addition to promising local startups like Engine Biosciences and ImmunoScape. With them having access to our state-of-the-art equipment and space, we look forward to witnessing future developments that Albatroz will lead," said Daphne Teo, CEO and Founder of NSG BioLabs.