AbCellera announced that it has closed a US$105 million Series B financing. The financing was led by OrbiMed and current investor DCVC Bio, with an investor syndicate that includes Viking Global Investors, Peter Thiel, Founders Fund, Eli Lilly and Company, University of Minnesota, and Presight Capital. With the proceeds of the financing, AbCellera will expand its capacity and invest in technologies that complement and extend its proprietary antibody discovery engine.
AbCellera screens, selects, and analyzes millions of naturally produced antibodies to find next-generation drug candidates. By accelerating the arduous and unpredictable process of antibody drug discovery with rigorous machine learning and data science, AbCellera enhances the entire biologics ecosystem, from small biotechs to global pharmaceutical companies.
AbCellera will use the funds to deepen its technology stack, creating and aggregating novel tools to propel the development of new biological modalities, from monoclonal, multi-specific, and single-domain antibodies, to bioconjugates, gene-encoded biologics, and cell therapies.
The funds will also support the growth of AbCellera’s facilities and teams, including:
- Expanding its workforce;
- Opening a new 48,000-square-foot R&D facility in 2021; and