AbCellera: Providing a bridge to commercial banking
AbCellera is a privately held Vancouver-based company that gives partners in the life sciences sector access to industry-leading technology and a world-class research team. With cutting-edge technology for screening and mapping natural immune responses, AbCellera tests antibodies from single B cells at depths of millions of cells per day, thereby unlocking the power of natural immunity to discover the next generation of antibody therapies.
As a young company operating in a non-traditional sector with limited tangible assets, AbCellera was having difficulty obtaining financing from mainstream Canadian financial institutions when it was introduced to EDC in 2016. While life sciences was new to us, our greater risk appetite – combined with thorough due diligence and out-of-the box thinking – enabled us to help. Within six weeks, we structured a $2-million direct loan to purchase equipment that allowed this fledgling company to take on work for large U.S. contracts. These contracts set the stage for more great things to come.
As AbCellera has continued to grow and reach profitability, EDC has been able to bridge it to commercial banking. We now have four Export Guarantee Program facilities with the company, in which we’re sharing the risk with its bank.
