AbCellera Breaks Ground on Global Headquarters in Vancouver and Expects to Hire Hundreds of Scientific and Tech Professionals

380,000 square feet of facilities envisioned as creative tech hub where leading software, engineering, and bioscience talent can solve key problems to accelerate the discovery of new antibody treatments

AbCellera (Nasdaq: ABCL), a technology company that has developed a centralized operating system for next-generation antibody discovery and development, today announced it has broken ground on an expanded global headquarters in its home city of Vancouver in anticipation of adding hundreds of employees to its current 250-person workforce over the next few years.

“We’re building state-of-the-art facilities in Vancouver to accelerate the development of new antibody therapies with biotech and pharma partners from around the world,” said Carl Hansen, Ph.D., CEO and President of AbCellera. “We intend for this technology campus to serve as a place where talented people can contribute to dramatically improving and accelerating antibody discovery for the benefit of patients everywhere.”

Located on 4th Avenue between Columbia and Manitoba Streets in Mount Pleasant, the company’s planned tech campus includes two facilities totaling 380,000 square feet that will be developed in partnership with the Dayhu Group and Beedie. The facilities are expected to be completed in 2023 and 2024.

“As a Vancouver-based company, AbCellera’s success in leading the fight against COVID-19 underscores how our city has emerged as an innovation hub where tech companies can grow and thrive,” said Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart. “The tech sector is a key economic driver for our city, and this announcement ensures that one of our most successful anchor companies will play a pivotal role in creating new jobs, diversifying our economy, and commercializing made-in-BC innovations – all while protecting us from current and emerging health challenges."

AbCellera’s antibody drug discovery platform uses microfluidics, machine learning, computation, custom robotics, and automation to search and analyze natural immune systems at record speed and depth. Hansen noted that the complexity of the technology stack, along with the fact that it is being used in entirely new ways to search, decode, and analyze antibodies, requires a uniquely skilled workforce.

“Vancouver is home to a wealth of talent and a network of world-leading tech companies and startups,” said Véronique Lecault, Ph.D., AbCellera’s Chief Operating Officer. “We see this new site as a creative hub for engineers, software developers, data scientists, biologists and bioinformaticians to collaborate, innovate, and push the frontiers of technology. Our company puts significant value on ambitious, adventurous thinkers who are energized by solving hard, important problems in entirely new ways.”

AbCellera’s long-term vision in Vancouver includes building Canada’s first clinical-grade Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) antibody manufacturing facility, which will provide technology and infrastructure to help Canada respond to future pandemics.

Vancouver is a fast-growing technology center in North America, attracting startups with a business environment friendly to young companies, and luring top talent with a sophisticated urban lifestyle, extraordinary outdoor amenities, and stunning natural landscapes.

About Dayhu Group of Companies

Dayhu Group of Companies is a leading real estate investment, development, and property management company with over four million square feet of industrial, commercial and retail properties across Western Canada. Founded in 1956, Dayhu is a Vancouver-based, family-managed and owned business. For more information, please visit https://dayhu.com/.

About Beedie

Founded in 1954, Beedie is Western Canada’s largest private industrial developer and property manager, having completed more than 30 million square feet of new development, with an ever-expanding portfolio of over 11 million square feet. With over six decades of building for good, Beedie is also one of the Lower Mainland’s most reputable residential developers having completed several significant, large-scale master-planned communities and mixed-use projects. For more information, please visit https://www.beedie.ca/.

About AbCellera Biologics

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. For more information, please visit www.abcellera.com.

AbCellera Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. All statements contained in this release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our ability to develop, commercialize and achieve market acceptance of our current and planned products and services, our research and development efforts, and other matters regarding our business strategies, use of capital, results of operations and financial position, and plans and objectives for future operations.

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the words “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors are described under "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and elsewhere in the documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. We caution you that forward-looking statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known by us and our projections of the future, about which we cannot be certain. As a result, the forward-looking statements may not prove to be accurate. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent our views as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason, except as required by law.

Source: AbCellera Biologics Inc.

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