Mila Partners with AbCellera to Help Bring New Treatments to Patients Faster
MONTREAL, QC, September 23, 2022 – Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute announced today that AbCellera, a Vancouver-based technology company that helps to discover new antibody-based medicines and bring them to patients faster, has joined its community of industrial partners.
AbCellera’s technology, which combines data science, machine learning (ML), bioinformatics, high-throughput microfluidics, and genomics, generates large volumes of complex, purposeful data that is making drug development faster, more efficient, and more accessible. AbCellera has invested approximately $500 million in its technology platform and is building a tech hub in Vancouver where leading data science, ML, engineering, bioscience, and clinical manufacturing are solving key challenges to accelerate the discovery of new medicines. Currently, more than 25% of AbCellera’s R&D team is dedicated to software development, data science, and ML.
“Health is one of Mila’s key interests and focus areas. We are excited to welcome AbCellera in our community. AbCellera is a Canadian company using machine learning to help bring new medicines to patients,” said Stéphane Létourneau, Mila’s Executive Vice President.
“For the past 10 years, AbCellera has been leveraging machine learning to answer impactful questions that are making a meaningful difference in the lives of patients,” says Kevin Jepson, Machine Learning Lead at AbCellera. “We’re excited to contribute to the Mila community and look forward to collaborating with Mila’s renowned experts, leveraging its training programs, and connecting with the top-tier Artificial Intelligence talent.”
AbCellera has partnered with over 35 pharmaceutical and biotech companies to work on more than 165 programs. AbCellera brought two antibody treatments against COVID-19 to the clinic in under a year, including the world’s first monoclonal antibody therapy authorized in the United States and Canada. AbCellera’s second COVID-19 treatment, bebtelovimab, continues to be used to combat the virus and is currently the most potent COVID-19 antibody treatment available. To date, more than 2.5 million patients have received these treatments, saving tens of thousands of lives.