General Meeting with with Murray McCutcheon, PhD, Senior Vice President, Partnering, AbCellera

AbCellera: How a UBC start-up grew into a global leader in antibody drug development
with Murray McCutcheon, PhD, Senior Vice President, Partnering, AbCellera

Since the first antibody medicine was approved in 1986, therapeutic antibodies have grown into one of the most important classes of medicines, with more than 160 approved products treating diseases such as cancer, auto-immune disease, and neurodegeneration, amongst many others. Founded as a start-up out of UBC in 2012, AbCellera has become a global leader in the discovery and development of new antibody medicines, with over 500 employees, sites in three countries, and a portfolio of 100+ antibody drug programs with 40+ partners. In this talk, I will first introduce the basic principles of immunology and antibody medicines. I will then highlight the key factors that have led to AbCellera’s success, including a focus on developing enabling technologies, a partnership-based business model, and our prowess in treating infectious disease, which led to the development of two therapeutics that treated millions of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, looking forward, I will talk about the critical importance of scaling up innovation-based companies in Canada in order to retain our talented graduates, grow our economy, and improve the health and productivity of Canadians.