Moderna will leverage AbCellera’s AI-powered technology to search and analyze natural immune responses in the hopes of identifying antibodies for up to six targets.
AbCellera president and CEO Carl Hansen, Ph.D/Couresty AbCellera Biologics.
Shares of AbCellera Biologics climbed 7.1% on Wednesday, exciting investors. That’ll happen when a company enters into a multi-year deal with Moderna to develop mRNA-encoded antibody therapeutics for multiple disease areas.
Moderna will leverage AbCellera’s AI-powered technology to search and analyze natural immune responses in the hopes of identifying antibodies for up to six targets selected by the mRNA vaccine kingpin. The focus will be on advancing the effectiveness of mRNA-encoded antibody therapeutics. AbCellera will receive research payments and will bring in more on potential milestones and royalties.
Moderna has long held an interest in leveraging mRNA to manufacture monoclonal antibodies for therapeutic use. The field of mRNA therapeutics has tremendous potential to advance both antibody expression and gene editing.
The company is looking to add to an extensive portfolio of mRNA assets across infectious diseases, oncology, cardiovascular and rare diseases. In all, Moderna’s pipeline consists of 37 programs in development, with 22 of those currently in the clinic.
On an R&D Day held earlier this month, Moderna highlighted several programs, including systemic secreted and cell surface therapeutics. In this particular modality, mRNA is delivered systemically to create proteins that are either secreted or expressed on the cell surface. Another key focus was systemic intracellular therapeutics, where mRNA is delivered into cells within target organs to treat diseases caused by a missing or defective protein.
“Over the past year, Moderna has demonstrated the speed and impact of its mRNA vaccine technology in helping to protect people around the world,” said AbCellera president and CEO Carl Hansen, Ph.D. “We are excited to work alongside their team to advance RNA-encoded antibodies as a new frontier in genetic medicines.”
With its AI-powered therapeutic antibody drug discovery platform, Vancouver, BC-based AbCellera is one of the most well-known biotechs in Canada. The company has paired its therapeutic antibodies with several big names, including most recently Eli Lilly. The two struck a partnership in the early days of the pandemic to co-develop antibodies to treat and prevent COVID-19 based on AbCellera’s rapid pandemic response platform. At the time, AbCellera had already identified more than 500 unique antibodies isolated from one of the first U.S. patients to recover from COVID-19.
The collaboration led to bamlanivimab, an antibody used in combination with Lilly’s etesevimab to treat mild-moderate COVID-19 until U.S. distribution was paused in June when it failed to fend off variants. The drug has recently been reinstated in some states where the variants resistant to it are low.
AbCellera previously partnered with GlaxoSmithKline in 2017, and in 2019, the company entered into a collaboration with Novartis to develop therapeutic antibodies against up to 10 targets. Before yesterday’s big splash, AbCellera announced a deal with EQRx to accelerate the delivery of and patient access to novel medicines. At the time, EQRx Chief of Rx Creation Carlos Garcia-Echeverria, Ph.D., lauded AbCellera’s operating system for antibody discovery, saying that it “addresses each step in the process to dramatically improve the cycle time, cost, and probability of success.”
This new partnership between two sizzling hot companies should keep Moderna firmly entrenched as the leader in the emerging field of mRNA therapeutics.
