Amgen Sets Official Guinness World Record™ for Most Osteoporosis Screenings for an Osteoporosis Campaign in 24 Hours

Healthcare Campaign  Executed Across 10 Countries to Raise Awareness of the Importance of Predicting  and Preventing Osteoporosis and Bone Fracture, Particularly in Post-Menopausal  Women

Thousand Oaks, Calif. (May 6, 2019) – Amgen, together with local healthcare partners in 10 countries around the  world, set on May 5, 2019, a Guinness World Record title for the most  osteoporosis screenings for an osteoporosis campaign in 24 hours. To break the existing world  record, Amgen set out to screen at least a total of 3,000  people in 10 countries around the world -- to  help them understand their risk of having osteoporosis, a medical condition  that weakens bones and makes them more likely to fracture. The campaign took  place in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Saudi  Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.

Amgen engaged Guinness World Records, the global authority  on record-breaking, to attempt the official record. Official adjudicators from  Guinness World Records were on site at the Amgen-sponsored screening events to  verify the number of screenings conducted. While Guinness World Records is in  the process of verifying the total count, Amgen received this message from  Guinness World Records on May 5, at 4:05 p.m. Pacific: “It is official! You  have over 3,000 participants across all of the adjudicated locations and have  officially achieved a new Guinness World Records title. Congratulations!”

“Amgen is a science-based  company, so it was important to us to involve the Guinness World Records  organization to endorse the count of osteoporosis screenings that were conducted  during our ‘Break Records, Not Bones’ health education campaign,” said  Sebastian Sorsaburu, vice president, Medical, for Amgen’s Intercontinental  Region. “While it is exciting to have set an official Guinness World Record  title, it is even more rewarding to know that we raised awareness of the  serious risk of bone fracture associated with osteoporosis, particularly among  post-menopausal women.”

Osteoporosis  – the Silent Disease
Throughout a woman’s life, estrogen plays an  important role in replacing older porous bone with newer dense bone. However,  during menopause, her body starts to produce less estrogen.1 Over time this can lead to osteoporosis–a medical condition that weakens your bones and makes them  more likely to break.2 

Osteoporosis is often called a “silent” disease,  because those afflicted can’t see or feel their bone loss. As a result, many  people don’t know they have it until they break a bone.3 One out of three women over 50 years old will break a bone  due to osteoporosis in her lifetime. 2

“Even when you’re feeling great on the outside,  your bones could be telling a different story on the inside,” Sorsaburu said.  “If ignored, osteoporosis can jeopardize your ability to do things you love and  get around on your own, particularly when bone breaks occur in critical parts  of the body, including the hip, pelvis and spine.”

Once a woman breaks a bone due to osteoporosis,  she is up to 10-times more likely to break another bone within her lifetime4-8

“Even what seems like a minor fracture, such as  one in the wrist, can be a sign of more debilitating fractures to come– like  those in the hip or spine,” Sorsaburu added. “It’s not just a fracture, it’s a  warning sign. No fracture should be ignored; instead, talk to your doctor about  your osteoporosis risk, and how you can take charge of your bone health.”

“At Amgen, we increasingly believe in the  predict/prevent paradigm, that is, moving from a system that fixes that which  is broken to one where we try to predict who is at risk for disease and then  prevent a life-altering event – such as a serious bone-break – in the first  place,” Sorsaburu added. “We think it’s the right thing for society, and the  right thing for the economic challenges we all face related to our growing  healthcare costs.”

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 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 Twitter, at www.twitter.com/amgen

About Guinness World Records
GUINNESS  WORLD RECORDS (GWR) is the global authority on record-breaking achievement.  First published in 1955, the iconic annual Guinness World Records books  have sold over 141 million copies in over 40 languages and in  more than 100 countries. Additionally, the Guinness World Records:  Gamer’s Edition, first published in 2007, has sold more than 4 million  copies to date. 

Guinness  World Records’ worldwide television programmes reach over 750 million viewers  annually and more than 3.7 million people subscribe to the GWR  YouTube channel, which enjoys more than 328 million views per year. The  GWR website receives over 20.5 million visitors annually, and we have  over 15 million fans on Facebook.   

The  Guinness World Records commercial sales division provides  customized consultancy services for some of the world’s top brands and  agencies to help place record breaking at the heart of their marketing campaigns,  employee-engagement programmes, and live and experiential events.  

CONTACT:  Amgen, Mary Klem, mklem@amgen.com, 805-341-0687
                   Guinness World Records, press@guinnessworldrecords.com   

References
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  1.  National Osteoporosis Foundation. What women need to know.  https://www.nof.org/preventing-fractures/general-facts/what-women-need-to-know,  Accessed 11/9/2018.
  2.  International Osteoporosis Foundation. What is osteoporosis?  https://www.iofbonehealth.org/what-is-osteoporosis
  ,  Accessed 11/9/2018.
  3.  National Osteoporosis Foundation, General facts.  https://www.nof.org/preventing-fractures/general-facts/
  ,  Accessed 11/9/20188. Colon-Emeric C, Kuchibhatla M, Pieper C, et al. The  contribution of hip fracture to risk of subsequent fractures: data from two  longitudinal studies. Osteoporos Int. 2003;14:879-83.
  4. Colon-Emeric C, Kuchibhatla M, Pieper C, et  al. The contribution of hip fracture to risk of subsequent fractures: data from  two longitudinal studies. Osteoporos Int. 2003;14:879-83.
  5.  Ettinger B, Ray GT, Pressman AR, Gluck O. Limb fractures in elderly men as  indicators of subsequent fracture risk. Arch  Intern Med. 2003;163:2741-7.
  6. Johnell O, Kanis JA, Oden A, et al. Fracture risk following  an osteoporotic fracture. Osteoporos Int. 2004;15:175-9.
  7.  Klotzbuecher CM, Ross PD, Landsman PB, Abbott TA 3rd, Berger M. Patients with  prior fractures have an increased risk of future fractures: a summary of the  literature and statistical synthesis. J Bone Miner Res. 2000;15:721-39.
8.  Melton LJ 3rd, Atkinson EJ, Cooper C, O’Fallon WM, Riggs BL. Vertebral  fractures predict subsequent fractures. Osteoporosis Int. 1999;10:214-21.