Vancouver biotechnology company Absci has secured nearly $1 billion in contracts in recent weeks, bolstering the business that’s struggled against economic headwinds.
In the past month, Absci announced a $650 million partnership with Spanish skin health pharmaceutical company Almirall and a $247 million partnership with Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca.
Absci uses its database and artificial intelligence platform to discover biologic drugs, speeding up the drug discovery process. The work can potentially bring drugs to the market faster than the traditional process.
Overall, Absci has secured contracts for 10 drug discovery programs. On Wednesday, the company announced the most recent — a new partnership with computational biology company PrecisionLife to create five drug targets.
Sean McClain, founder and CEO of Absci, said the company’s recent partnerships speak to the company’s perceived value.
“I think that it’s really strong validation that our technology has the potential to create novel therapies for patients that will ultimately have higher success in the clinic,” he said.
Absci, which has struggled in this macro-economic climate, laid off staff in summer 2022 and again a year later. McClain said at the time the layoffs would streamline Absci’s operations and make the company financially healthier.
The company has also reported losses in its most recent earnings reports.
Still, Absci has continued to forge partnerships with the likes of Big Pharma and academia, creating drugs for pharmaceutical giant Merck and working on an HIV vaccine with the California Institute of Technology.
“We’re the best we’ve ever been,” said McClain, pointing to what he called a strong balance sheet.
“Over the last two years, we have really brought on just exceptional talent,” McClain said.
Last fall, Absci appointed veteran pharmaceutical executive Andreas Busch, formerly head of research and development at Bayer, as its chief innovation officer.
“When you start to surround yourself with some of the best research individuals and executives in an organization, it just really elevates the work that everyone is doing,” McClain said.
Absci was founded in 2011 and went public in 2021, when it also moved its headquarters to east Vancouver.
McClain said he is proud of what his team has accomplished by developing technologies to help patients and partnering with leading institutes.
“We definitely have wind in our sails,” McClain said. He expects more partnerships to be announced in the coming year.
