Vancouver-based antibody therapy firm AbCellera to lay off 10% of workforce

The Vancouver-based company that helped develop the first antibody therapy treatment for COVID-19 announced Wednesday it was laying off 63 employees, but would still create and maintain more than 400 jobs in Canada.

AbCellera Biologics Inc. announced the cuts, which is about 10 per cent of its workforce, in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The filing says the layoffs and reorganization will help it "focus its efforts toward the clinical development of new antibody medicines for patients."

Last November AbCellera celebrated its 10-year anniversary and said in a quarterly report that the company had gone global and had nearly 500 employees. On Wednesday, in an email to CBC News, it said it now has 580 employees globally.

In May, AbCellera announced a $701-million infrastructure project to boost the overall scope of its Vancouver manufacturing plant.

The company said the plan, backed by more than $375 million in federal and British Columbia funding, also included clinical trials.

AbCellera's statement to the SEC says it estimates it will incur approximately $2.5 million US in cash expense related to the layoffs but, with more than $1 billion US in available liquidity, it says it has sufficient capital to "execute on its strategy" beyond the next three years.