Biotechnology company Amgen Inc. is one of two companies beingnamed today as a recipient of a National Medal of Technology, whichwill be awarded by President Clinton in October.Amgen, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., was recognized for "its leadership indeveloping innovative and important cost-effective therapeutics basedon advances in cellular and molecular biology for delivery to criticallyill patients." The award will be announced this morning by CommerceSecretary Ron Brown.Corning Inc., whose technological innovations resulted in a range ofproducts, also is receiving a medal. Individual recipients are Joel Engleof Ameritech and Richard Frenkiel of AT&T for contributions tocellular mobile communications systems; Irwin Jacobs ofQUALCOMM Inc. for work in digital wireless communications; andJoseph Gerber of Gerber Scientific Inc. for his work in manufacturingautomation systems.Amgen's chairman and CEO, Gordon Binder, said, "On behalf ofAmgen's 3,200 outstanding men and women, I am deeply honored andvery proud that Amgen has been named a winner of the NationalMedal of Technology. This is the highest presidential tribute forextraordinary achievement in the commercialization of technology."This award is the first in our industry in its very short but remarkablehistory," Binder said. "The [medal] is the recognition of our vision andour pioneering spirit."In other news, Amgen said Tuesday that an investigational new drugapplication was filed on behalf of Amgen-Regeneron Partners toinitiate clinical trials of neurotrophin-3 in peripheral neuropathies. _Jim Shrine

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