AbCellera and Empirico Inc. announced today that they have expanded their strategic multi-target discovery collaboration, which leverages Empirico’s Precision Insights PlatformTM to discover genetically validated drug targets and AbCellera’s technology to identify lead candidate antibodies against those targets. Following the rapid progress of their first collaborative program, which identified a lead candidate against an undisclosed G protein-coupled receptor target in less than 12 months, the companies have expanded their partnership to include seven targets. In addition, under the expanded agreement, AbCellera has a co-development option on a program-by-program basis.
Empirico’s platform is designed to uncover causal relationships between genes, proteins, and clinical outcomes by integrating genetic data and health information from millions of individuals together with experimental validation. AbCellera integrates leading technologies to solve all steps in the antibody discovery process and delivers to partners diverse and developable lead candidates against drug targets.
“We have been impressed by Empirico’s ability to discover and validate new drug targets and believe the combination of our respective technologies has great potential to bring new first-in-class treatments to patients. We are pleased to build on our productive collaboration with Empirico by expanding the number of targets and maximizing the opportunity for mutual success by having an option to co-invest on a program-by-program basis.”
Carl Hansen, Ph.D., CEO and President of AbCellera
“AbCellera’s technology enables us to extend our competitive advantage in target discovery and validation with best-in-class antibodies to rapidly advance our programs towards the clinic,” said Omri Gottesman, M.D., CEO and President of Empirico. “We are excited to expand our relationship with AbCellera and to translate many more genetically validated targets into potential new antibody-based therapies together.”
Under the terms of the expanded agreement, Empirico will have the right to develop and commercialize therapeutic antibodies resulting from the collaboration, and AbCellera has the option to co-develop each therapeutic program to maintain up to a 50 percent ownership stake. Financial terms were not disclosed.
About Empirico Inc.
Empirico is a next-generation therapeutics company founded on utilizing human genetics, data science, and programmable biology to power novel target discovery and development. Empirico’s Precision Insights PlatformTM, a proprietary human genetics-focused discovery platform, leverages a world-leading dataset, hyperscale infrastructure and algorithmic approaches that encode and enhance human intuition to identify and prioritize therapeutic targets. All potential therapeutic targets are subjected to rigorous in vitro and in vivo experimental validation to elucidate the mechanism by which genetic variation impacts disease risk and provide insights about which therapeutic modality could be ‘programmed’ to mimic or interfere with that mechanism. Empirico is advancing multiple programs across a broad range of indications and therapeutic modalities, both independently and in collaboration with industry partners. Empirico is headquartered in San Diego, California with laboratories in Madison, Wisconsin.
About AbCellera Biologics Inc.
AbCellera is a technology company that searches, decodes, and analyzes natural immune systems to find antibodies that its partners can develop into drugs to prevent and treat disease. AbCellera partners with drug developers of all sizes, from large pharmaceutical to small biotechnology companies, empowering them to move quickly, reduce cost, and tackle the toughest problems in drug development.