AbCellera

AbCellera is a Canadian biotechnology company based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In November 2016, AbCellera received a $645,000 USD grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a test for tuberculosis.¹⁾ The company received a second grant in January 2022 to “identify potent anti-RSV monoclonal antibodies to protect infants in low and middle income countries from RSV infection morbidity and mortality.”²⁾

In June 2020, AbCellera announced it had begun the world's first study of a potential antibody treatment against COVID-19, with a Phase 1 trial of LY-CoV555 (Bamlanivimab), in collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company.³⁾ The drug was granted an Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November 2020, and subsequently renewed in February and March 2021.^{4) 5)}

The EUA was revoked in April 2021, with the FDA citing an updated conclusion that “the known and potential benefits of bamlanivimab alone no longer outweigh the known and potential risks for the product,” because of significantly reduced efficacy against emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2.⁶⁾

A second COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapy (Bebtelovimab) was given Emergency Use Authorization in February 2022, with the U.S. Government committing to a $720 million purchase of up to 600,000 doses.⁷⁾