AbCellera Biologics(US:ABCL)2021-03-29 16:00Antibody Discovery and Development - As of December 31, 2020, the company had 103 discovery programs either completed, in progress, or under contract with 27 partners[17] - The company aims to enhance its antibody discovery platform through ongoing investments in research and development, which may affect operating results[14] - The company’s technology stack integrates proprietary technologies to address challenges in antibody discovery, enhancing productivity and efficiency[21] - The company believes that the total addressable market for antibody therapeutics will continue to expand as new entrants emerge in the biopharmaceutical industry[18] - The company’s success depends on maintaining and expanding partnerships that generate discovery programs for antibodies[14] - The company’s ability to manage growth effectively is critical to executing its business strategy and achieving future success[14] - The company aims to leverage unique data sets and AI to enhance the efficiency and speed of its discovery programs[36] - The company has established a multi-year strategic Research Collaboration and License Agreement with Lilly for up to nine therapeutic targets, including COVID-19[72] - The company has successfully applied its discovery technology to search immune responses from various species, including humans and camelids, enhancing the search space for antibody responses[80] - The company has developed optimized immunization methods that enable antibody generation against targets 100% identical to the host species, addressing challenges in immunization[83] - The company screened four million single cells from immunized rodents, identifying over 1,900 target-specific antibodies, with 428 unique antibody leads demonstrating a mature immune response[131] Financial Performance - Revenue for the company grew from $11.6 million in 2019 to $233.2 million in 2020, reflecting a significant increase[31] - The company reported a net income of $118.4 million in 2020, compared to a net loss of $2.2 million in 2019[31] - For the year ended December 31, 2020, the company recognized its first milestone and royalty revenue streams totaling $213.3 million, exclusively from its partnership with Lilly[175] - For the year ended December 31, 2020, the company recognized milestone and royalty revenue streams totaling $213.3 million, exclusively from the partnership with Lilly, with $198.3 million recorded as receivable at year-end[528] - As of December 31, 2020, the company had a cash balance of $594.1 million, primarily maintained in bank accounts and term deposits[529] Partnerships and Collaborations - The company has entered into agreements for 103 partnered discovery programs, with 80 including potential milestone and royalty payments[31] - The partnership agreement with Lilly includes an upfront payment of $25 million and potential milestone payments of up to $29 million, with royalties in the low- to mid-teens for COVID-19 sales[72] - The company emphasizes partnerships with large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, focusing on both tractable and intractable targets[63][65] - The partnership with Abdera Bioinnovations involves 9 targets in oncology, announced on January 24, 2021[70] - The company aims to expand existing partnerships from single-program to multi-year, multi-target agreements, enhancing long-term value through downstream milestone and royalty payments[176] Technology and Innovation - The company’s technology stack is capable of going from screen to hundreds of antibody sequences in only three days, significantly accelerating the discovery process[60] - The technology stack includes capabilities for generating high-quality antibodies, analyzing large data sets, and engineering bispecific antibodies[74][75] - The microfluidic single-cell screening technology allows for the analysis of millions of antibody-producing cells, achieving a throughput of over 4 million cells per screening day[89] - The automated single-cell sequencing pipeline can process up to 15,360 single-cell samples per week, recovering high-quality sequences efficiently[94] - The RepSeq technology can generate approximately 800 million antibody sequences in a single run, significantly expanding the search for therapeutic candidates[95] - The combination of single-cell screening and RepSeq can increase the number of therapeutic antibody candidates by more than 10-fold in a single experiment[97] - The high-throughput antibody generation pipeline can produce hundreds of recombinant antibodies within eight days of screening, with a capacity of 960 high-purity antibody samples per week[101] - The technology stack generates terabytes of data per discovery program, including tens of millions of microscopy images and billions of DNA sequences[104] - The company has developed a computational engine called Celium to standardize data collection and enhance antibody discovery efficiency[105] - The antibody engineering approach utilizes large panels of diverse candidate antibodies to reduce development time and technical risk[115] Market and Competitive Landscape - Antibody-based therapeutics accounted for over $140.0 billion in sales worldwide in 2019, representing five of the top 10 selling therapeutics[18] - The antibody therapeutics market is projected to reach approximately $260.0 billion by 2025, with a CAGR of about 11% from 2019 to 2025[49] - The average antibody drug takes approximately 9.4 to 12 years from initiation to approval, highlighting the lengthy drug development process[52] - The probability of a biologic drug discovery program succeeding in reaching Phase 1 clinical trials is estimated at approximately 37%[49] - The company faces intense competition in the global market for therapeutic antibody discovery technologies, with various competitors in single-cell screening and antibody engineering[140] Regulatory and Compliance - The company has faced material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting, which may impact future operations[14] - The company is subject to various Anti-Corruption Laws, which prohibit improper payments to foreign officials to obtain business advantages[184] - The company’s operations are affected by regulations governing clinical studies and product approvals in various jurisdictions, including the U.S. and Canada[180][182] - The company believes it is in material compliance with applicable environmental laws, which govern the handling and disposal of hazardous substances[183] Workforce and Growth - The workforce increased by 93% from 107 to 206 full-time employees as of December 31, 2020[36] - The company employs 206 people, with over two-thirds being scientists, engineers, and data scientists, reflecting a strong focus on interdisciplinary technology development[42] - The company has grown its workforce by 93%, increasing from 107 to 206 full-time employees, with approximately 51% being scientists[176] Future Plans and Expansion - The company plans to expand its facilities from 21,000 square feet to 80,000 square feet, including a new 48,000 square feet research headquarters expected to open in Q4 2021[36] - The company plans to expand its facilities by approximately 200,000 square feet to support cell line development and GMP manufacturing of antibody therapeutics, with completion expected in three to four years[139]