The Amgen Foundation will invest more than US$4m to support the Amgen Biotech Experience programme across the US, Puerto Rico, UK and Ireland.
The programme includes a series of labs that effectively bring biotechnology into classrooms.
This new investment will also strengthen the programme's alignment with the United States' Next Generation Science Standards, which are focused on engaging students in more authentic science learning experiences.
With the support of Education Development Centre (EDC), the global nonprofit organisation leading the Amgen Biotech Experience programme office, the investment is expected to empower 1,000 teachers who will reach more than 150,000 new students with the labs over the next two years.
The aim is to ignite a deep passion for innovation and scientific discovery in students
'We are very excited to extend our commitment to the Amgen Biotech Experience, a programme that began 25 years ago, with the intent to ignite a deep passion for innovation and scientific discovery in students,' said Robert Bradway, Chairman and Chief Executive of Amgen.
'This programme, which provides advanced biotech curriculum and professional-grade lab equipment at no cost to schools, has opened countless students' eyes to the world of biotechnology, fuelling potential long-term advancements to both medicine and society.'
The Amgen Biotech Experience labs were designed by Amgen scientists and educators to inspire the next generation of innovators and give high school biology students the opportunity to experience real science at their fingertips.
The Amgen Biotech Experience does this by providing science teachers with advanced training, curriculum and research-grade equipment, allowing them to run labs in their classrooms that incorporate the core technologies used by the biotech industry in the discovery of human therapeutics. With the help of secondary school teachers inside and outside the US, 72,000 students across Amgen regions have participated in the labs this past year.
Watch the video below to hear what teachers and students are saying about the programme.
