AbCellera (Nasdaq: ABCL), a technology company with a centralized operating system for next-generation antibody discovery, today announced financial results for the second quarter of 2021. All financial information in this press release is reported in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

“This quarter we delivered strong growth across key performance indicators related to our partnership business, including new programs under contract, program starts, and new molecules in the clinic,” said Carl Hansen, Ph.D., CEO of AbCellera. “We continue to drive value in our partnership business by building a diversified portfolio of potential future royalty streams across a broad range of indications and antibody modalities. We are also extending this model to create opportunities to deepen our position with assets that can provide economics similar to an internal pipeline while staying focused on preclinical discovery and development.”

Q2 2021 Business Summary

• Earned $27.6 million in total revenue, including $22.2 million in milestones and royalties.
• Incurred net loss of $2.3 million, compared to generating net earnings of $6.7 million in Q2 2020.
• Added 19 programs under contract with four new partners, resulting in a cumulative total of 138 programs under contract with 33 different partners.
• Started discovery on six programs, bringing the cumulative number of program starts to 60.
• Confirmed three new molecules advanced into the clinic, bringing the cumulative total to four.
• U.S. shipments of the AbCellera-discovered and Eli Lilly-developed bamlanivimab, administered together with etesevimab for COVID-19, were halted in June 2021 because of the prevalence of resistant variants at the time (Beta and Gamma). Preclinical data demonstrate that bamlanivimab and etesevimab administered together retain neutralization activity against variants currently in circulation in many countries, including the Delta variant which is now the most prevalent variant in the U.S.
• A second AbCellera-discovered therapeutic antibody for COVID-19, bebtelovimab (LY-CoV1404), which has been shown in preclinical studies to be highly potent and effective against variants of concern, including the Delta variant, was advanced into Phase 2 clinical testing by Eli Lilly.
• Expanded leadership team with the appointment of Neil Berkley as Chief Business Officer.

Key Business Metrics

AbCellera added 19 discovery programs in Q2 to reach a cumulative total of 138 discovery programs as of June 30, 2021 (up 82% from 76 on June 30, 2020), that are either completed, in progress, or under contract with 33 different partners (up from 25 on June 30, 2020). AbCellera started discovery on an additional six programs in Q2 to reach a cumulative total of 60 program starts (up from 48 on June 30, 2020). Our partners advanced three additional molecules into the clinic in Q2 2021, bringing the cumulative total to four.

Discussion of Q2 2021 Financial Results

• Revenue – Total revenue was $27.6 million, up from $11.2 million in Q2 2020. Sales of bamlanivimab generated earned royalties of $21.2 million. Milestone payments totalled $1.0 million and licensing revenue contributed $0.3 million. The partnership business produced research fees of $5.2 million, compared to $8.2 million in Q2 2020, which is attributable to the reduction in work associated with COVID-19 antibody discovery.
• Royalty Fees – Royalty fees payable to the National Institutes of Health on bamlanivimab were $3.6 million.
• Research & Development (R&D) Expenses – R&D expenses were $15.0 million, compared to $9.1 million in Q2 2020, reflecting continuing strong investments in the capacity and capabilities of AbCellera’s discovery and development platform.
• Sales & Marketing (S&M) Expenses – S&M expenses were $1.3 million, compared to $0.5 million in Q2 2020.
• General & Administrative (G&A) Expenses – G&A expenses were $11.2 million, compared to $1.5 million in Q2 2020, with the increase driven primarily by investments to support the growth of the company, non-cash stock-based compensation in line with publicly listed companies, and protecting our intellectual property.
• Net Loss – Net loss was $2.3 million, or ($0.01) per share on both a basic and diluted basis compared to net earnings of $6.7 million, or $0.03 per share on a basic and diluted basis in Q2 2020.
• Liquidity – $792.6 million of cash and cash equivalents and $64.9 million in accounts receivable and accrued accounts receivable.

Conference Call and Webcast

AbCellera will host a conference call and live webcast to discuss these results today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

The live webcast of the earnings conference call can be accessed on the Events and Presentations section of AbCellera’s Investor Relations website. A replay of the webcast will be available through the same link following the conference call.

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 costs, and tackle the toughest problems in drug development. To learn more, please visit www.abcellera.com.

Definition of Key Business Metrics

We regularly review the following key business metrics to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate financial projections, and make strategic decisions. We believe that the following metrics are important to understand our current business. These metrics may change or may be substituted for additional or different metrics as our business develops. For example, as our business matures and to the extent programs are discontinued, we anticipate updating these metrics to reflect such changes.

Number of discovery partners represents the unique number of partners with whom we have executed partnership contracts. We view this metric as an indication of the competitiveness of our technology stack and our current level of market penetration. The metric also relates to our opportunities to secure programs under contract.

Programs under contract represent the number of antibody development programs that are under contract for delivery of discovery research activities. A program under contract is counted when a contract is executed with a partner under which we commit to discover antibodies against one selected target. A target is any relevant antigen for which a partner seeks our support in developing binding antibodies. We view this metric as an indication of commercial success and technological competitiveness. It further relates to revenue from technology access fees. The cumulative number of programs under contract with downstream participation is related to our ability to generate future revenue from milestone payments and royalties.

Program starts represent the number of unique programs under contract for which we have commenced the discovery effort. The discovery effort commences on the later of (i) the day on which we receive sufficient reagents to start discovery of antibodies against a target and (ii) the day on which the kick-off meeting for the program is held. We view this metric as an indication of our operational capacity to execute on programs under contract. It is also an indication of the selection and initiation of discovery projects by our partners and the resulting near-term potential to earn research fees. Cumulatively, program starts with downstream participation indicate our total opportunities to earn downstream revenue from milestone fees and royalties in the mid- to long-term.

Molecules in the clinic represent the count of unique molecules for which an Investigational New Drug, or IND, New Animal Drug, or equivalent under other regulatory regimes, application has been approved based on an antibody that was discovered either by us or by a partner using licensed AbCellera technology. Where the date of such application approval is not known to us, the date of the first public announcement of a clinical trial will be used for the purpose of this metric. We view this metric as an indication of our near- and mid-term potential revenue from milestone fees and potential royalty payments in the long term.

Going forward, AbCellera intends to report on the molecules in the clinic metric in place of the previously reported programs in the clinic metric. The change is required to reflect two new dynamics which we believe are important to our business:

• One program can yield multiple molecules, e.g. the single COVID-19 antibody discovery program with Eli Lilly has produced both bamlanivimab and bebtelovimab.
• As part of an acquisition, AbCellera may come to own stakes in molecules for which the company is also entitled to milestone payments and royalties although the discovery was not performed as an AbCellera program, as is the case for several Trianni humanized rodent license agreements.

As part of the change, we have raised the threshold for reaching the clinic from IND application (or equivalent) to IND approval. We believe this more stringent definition better reflects the common understanding for achieving clinical status. The approval date is also more likely to be known than the application date. We believe this change will make our disclosures more consistent between molecules. The change produces no difference to historical business results. Until the second quarter of 2021, the previous metric of programs in the clinic was identical to the new metric of molecules in the clinic, with the COVID-19 antibody program and bamlanivimab having been the first and only program and molecule to have reached the clinic under either definition. AbCellera also intends to disclose additional details about each molecule to the extent made public or permitted by its partners. We believe that the updated metric together with the additional list of molecules will give investors a better understanding of AbCellera’s downstream portfolio and bring AbCellera’s reporting in line with other public companies with economic stakes in therapeutic molecules.

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. 

1. Exclusive of depreciation and amortization