Amgen’s investment confirms Conejo Valley as major biotech hub
Biotech giant Amgen’s planned $600 million science and innovation center at its Thousand Oaks headquarters will further solidify the Highway 101 Biotech Corridor as a major life sciences hub both state-wide and nationally, experts say.
“This announcement validates what we’ve long known,” Bruce Stenslie, president and CEO of the Economic Development Collaborative, a business consulting nonprofit for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, told the Business Times Sept. 2.
“That the Conejo Valley and Ventura County have been and remain at the center of the state’s and the nation’s biotech sector,” he said.
Brent Reinke, founder and chair of the Westlake Village-based BioScience Alliance, a nonprofit that supports life sciences firms in the Highway 101 biotech corridor, agrees.
“This investment will further solidify the 101 biotech corridor as a major and influential biotech cluster both nationally and potentially internationally,” said Reinke, a senior shareholder at the Westlake Village office of law firm Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, which has a life sciences practice.
He said the $600 million investment by Amgen at its Thousand Oaks base, announced Sept. 2, may also be the impetus for other biotech companies, both early stage and more established, to locate to the region.
Amgen anchors the Conejo Valley’s biotech hub, home to about 20 other life sciences firms, primarily in Thousand Oaks, includingAtara Biotherapeutics, Capsida Biotherapeutics, Latigo Biotherapeutics and Tokyo-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
The Conejo Valley is part of the larger 101 corridor, which includes the West San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, Ventura County and Santa Barbara County.
Camarillo, next door to Thousand Oaks, is home to a dozen life sciences companies, including PBS Biotech, REMD Biotherapeutics, Hygiena and AmerStem.
Amgen said the new, state-of-the-art center for science and innovation is designed to bring together researchers, engineers, and scientists across disciplines to enhance collaboration.
It will accelerate the discovery of next-generation therapeutics for patients with the most serious diseases, the company said in a press release.
“At Amgen, we’re continuing to invest in the future of American science and innovation,” said Robert Bradway, the global firm’s chairman and CEO.
“This new center will empower our scientists with the tools and collaborative environment they need to shape the next era of scientific discovery and advance medicines that improve human health,” he said.
The building will feature advanced automation and digital capabilities, empowering scientists with the tools and environment needed to drive scientific excellence and advancements in biotechnology, according to the company.
Construction is expected to begin in Q3 2025 and create hundreds of U.S. jobs, Amgen said.
Thousand Oaks City Manager Drew Powers told the Business Times that the $600 million center is very likely one of the largest single-project investments in Ventura County.
“It’s difficult to underscore just how significant this investment by Amgen will be for Ventura County’s economy,” Powers said.
“We talk a lot about the importance of balance in jobs, housing and the environment when it comes to quality of life,” he said. “This investment certainly pays dividends.”
Amgen’s investment is a testament to the city’s partnership with the global life sciences powerhouse and the Thousand Oaks City Council’s long-standing biotech-focused economic development strategy, Powers said.
Bill Camarillo, co-chair of the nonprofit Ventura County Economic Development Association and CEO of Oxnard-based Agromin, said Amgen’s planned new center illustrates the company’s commitment to improving lives through science.
“Amgen’s dedication to innovating new ways to save lives is a testament to their battle cry to ‘Live, Win and Thrive,’” he said.
Amy Fukutomi, a VCEDA director and a Limoneira executive in Santa Paula, said that as a former long-time Amgen employee “and one who personally benefited medically from several of their products, it is always great to hear good news about the company.”
The new center enhances Amgen’s global network of sites, leveraging decades of operational expertise and technological advancements, the company’s press release said.
Amgen said its long-standing commitment to U.S. innovation and state-of-the-art operations is reflected in more than $40 billion invested in manufacturing and research and development since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017.
That investment includes over $5 billion in direct capital expenditures in the U.S.
The enactment of pro-growth tax policies in the TCJA, extended and reinforced by the Trump Administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, further facilitates Amgen’s ability to invest domestically in cutting-edge science and manufacturing, the company said.
The Sept. 2 announcement builds on other recent investments from Amgen, including a $900 million expansion of its manufacturing facility in central Ohio and a $1 billion investment to build a second manufacturing plant in Holly Springs, North Carolina.
Amgen, in March, held a summit entitled “Is Southern California’s Conejo Valley becoming the next Biotech Valley?”
The “Amgen Connect” conference was “about building a thriving, innovative ecosystem for the life sciences right here in the Conejo Valley,” Rachna Khosla, Amgen’s senior vice president, business development, told the Business Times.
Indeed, it was announced in May thatVentura County’s 2nd District, the BioScience Alliance, the EDC and India’s Atal Incubation Centre had entered into an agreement aimed at accelerating such growth.
The partnership will foster cross-border innovation by supporting startup development, facilitating international soft landings, and establishing academic and industry partnerships between India and Ventura County’s portion of the 101 biotech corridor, Reinke said.
The MOU was announced a week after the BioScience Alliance held its annual 101 Biotech Corridor Conference, at which it was forecast that the Conejo Valley life sciences sector will continue to enlarge in the coming years.
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