AbCellera, the Canada-based developer of an antibody drug discovery platform, completed a $105m series B round yesterday that included pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly.
Healthcare investment firm OrbiMed and venture capital fund DCVC Bio co-led the round, which also featured Viking Global Investors, Founders Fund, University of Minnesota, Presight Capital and private investor Peter Thiel.
Founded in 2012, AbCellera has created a technology platform that uses machine learning and data science to locate antibodies in natural immune systems that could form the basis of disease treatments. It was spun out of University of British Columbia.
The series B proceeds will support the growth of AbCellera’s team in addition to a biologics manufacturing centre, and a research and development facility slated to open next year. Eli Lilly invested having signed a multi-year research and collaboration licensing deal with the company last week.
The round’s close follows a pledge of up to $125m of financing from the Canadian government-owned Innovation, Science and Economic Development’s Strategic Innovation Fund for AbCellera earlier this month.
AbCellera CEO Carl Hansen said: “Drug development takes too long, fails too often, and costs too much. With the backing of visionary investors, we will double-down on our strategy of making long-term investments in technology and teams that are needed to put drug development on the fast track.
“We are building a modern operating system for drug developers to ensure the best science is translated quickly into new therapies for patients.”
DCVC Bio had previously led the company’s $10m series A round in September 2018, which came in the wake of $820,000 from unnamed investors the year before, according to a regulatory filing.
