Vancouver biotech company AbCellera's IPO nets $556M

Dec 16 2020, 3:02 am

Canadian biotechnology company AbCellera closed a successful initial public offering Tuesday, bringing in $555.5 million after selling nearly 28 million shares.

The company initially set out to raise $250 million, according to a Globe and Mail report, meaning this result shattered their expectations.

Its share price sat at approximately $60 Tuesday evening, suggesting the Vancouver company was valued at almost $16 billion on the stock market.

Headquartered on Yukon Street in Olympic Village, AbCellera has come to national attention for its work developing potential antibody treatments for COVID-19.

Antibodies are proteins produced naturally by the body’s white blood cells that latch onto viruses, bacteria, and other infectious microbes and neutralize them. Antibodies are unique for each pathogen, and it takes the body time (usually a few days) to build antibodies suited for a novel infection.

AbCellera looked at blood from COVID-19 survivors to find ones that might be useful for patients fighting the disease.

It received $175 million in federal funding earlier this year to aid its search, and in November one of its treatments called bamlanivimab developed with US partner Eli Lilly received emergency approval from Health Canada for use in patients age 12 and up.

Megan DevlinMegan Devlin

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