AbCellera Raises $105M to Advance Antibody Discovery Operations
Summary
Vancouver, BC-based AbCellera, which launched in 2012 based on work by CEO Carl Hansen (pictured), uses data science tools including machine-learning algorithms to find potential drug candidates by poring over millions of antibodies produced in reaction to the introduction of antigens into the immune system. On Wednesday the company announced it raised a $105 million Series B round of financing from a mix of life sciences and technology investors, money that it plans to use to enhance its discovery toolkit as well as add dozens of additional employees and more than double its R&D space. AbCellera’s work is intended to turn a process it describes as “arduous and unpredictable” into a quicker, more effective system—and by doing so, speed up the development of new antibody drugs for pharma and biotech companies. In the next few years, Hansen envisions building out a manufacturing facility of perhaps 150,000 square feet to enable AbCellera to make antibodies in quantities large enough to support clinical tests through the end of Phase 2 trials. Viking Global Investors, Peter Thiel, Founders Fund, Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), University of Minnesota, and Presight Capital also participated.
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