The Canadian company that helped develop the first antibody therapy treatment for COVID-19 is more than doubling the size of its planned expansion in Vancouver.
AbCellera Biologics has revealed a new $700-million project that will add research and development capacity to the manufacturing plant that has been in the works since 2020.
The federal government gave AbCellera $176 million toward the manufacturing plant and announced another $225 million for the research and clinical trial projects at a Wednesday press conference. The B.C. government is providing $75 million.
“This is really a game-changer,” said François-Philippe Champagne, federal minister of innovation, science and industry, at the Vancouver announcement.
“This project is all about possibilities. It’s about ambition, it’s about excellence and making sure that we will support AbCellera’s growth as an anchor firm here in Canada.”
AbCellera senior vice-president Murray McCutcheon said the company’s new campus will be able to take research on antibody therapies from early ideas through to clinical trials.
Vaccines trigger the body to make antibodies to prevent or limit an infection before exposure, and antibodies therapies are given to help a body fight off an infection after it has already started.
AbCellera partnered with drug giant Eli Lilly in 2020 to develop Bamlanivimab, which was authorized for use less than a year after the first case of COVID-19 was discovered. While AbCellera helped discover that therapy, the doses themselves were manufactured outside of Canada.
“Today is really about technology and what technology can do for progress,” AbCellera CEO Dr. Carl Hansen said Wednesday. “Our mission is to bring better medicine to patients faster and we believe technology is the big lever for that.”
The new manufacturing plant is under construction now and is set to be producing antibody therapies for clinical trials starting next year.
The new project adds lab space, equipment and technology to turn basic research into usable medicines, as well as programs that help get those medicines into clinical trials. McCutcheon says the first focus is going to be on antibody therapies for use against cancer and autoimmune diseases.
The company was founded in 2012 and currently has about 500 employees. McCutcheon said the manufacturing plant and new research and clinical trial project will add about 400 additional jobs.
— with files from Global News’ Elizabeth McSheffrey