The Vancouver-based company that helped develop the first antibody therapy for COVID-19 announced Wednesday that it will lay off 63 employees but will continue to create and maintain more than 400 jobs in Canada.
AbCellera Biologics Inc. announced the job cuts, which make up about 10% of its workforce, in a filing with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The filing states that the layoffs and reorganization “will focus their efforts on the clinical progression of new antibody-based medicines for patients. “
Last November, AbCellera celebrated its 10th anniversary, saying in a quarterly report that the company was global and had around 500 employees. In an email to CBC News on Wednesday, the company said it now has 580 employees worldwide.
In May, AbCellera announced a $701 million infrastructure allocation to build on the overall success of its production facility in Vancouver.
The company said the plan, subsidized through more than $375 million in federal and B. C. The funding also includes clinical trials.
AbCellera’s SEC filing says it estimates it will incur about $2. 5 million in monetary expenses related to the layoffs, but with more than $1 billion in money on hand, it says it has enough capital to “execute its strategy” beyond the next 3 years.
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