30 June 2022 - - US-based pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) has entered into a modified purchase agreement with the US government to supply an additional 150,000 doses of bebtelovimab, the second antibody developed through Canada-based AbCellera's (NASDAQ: ABCL) collaboration with Lilly, for approximately USD 275m, AbCellera said.

The existing US government supply of bebtelovimab, including the new purchase, is expected to meet present demand through late August 2022.

Delivery of doses will begin immediately and complete no later than August 5, 2022. An option for an additional 350,000 doses to be exercised no later than September 14, 2022, will remain in the agreement.

Details regarding Lilly's modified purchase agreement to provide the US government can be found here.

Bebtelovimab continues to maintain neutralization activity against the most common, and fastest growing, Omicron variants (BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5) in the United States, in addition to all known variants of interest and concern.

AbCellera initially mobilized its pandemic response platform against COVID-19 in February of 2020, resulting in the discovery of bamlanivimab, the first monoclonal antibody therapy for COVID-19 to reach human testing and to be authorized for emergency use by the US FDA.

Bamlanivimab alone and together with other antibodies has treated at least 700,000 patients, preventing COVID-19-related hospitalizations and death.

AbCellera's second monoclonal antibody for COVID-19, bebtelovimab, was developed to combat emerging variants and. Bebtelovimab maintains binding and neutralizing activity across currently known and reported variants of concern.

Bebtelovimab has been studied for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 both as a monotherapy and together with other antibodies.

AbCellera's efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic have identified thousands of unique anti-SARS-CoV-2 human antibodies.

These include bamlanivimab, bebtelovimab, and other antibodies that are in various stages of testing by AbCellera and its collaborators.

Bamlanivimab and bebtelovimab were developed from antibodies that were discovered using AbCellera's pandemic response platform, in partnership with the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). AbCellera's partner, Lilly, is responsible for development, manufacturing, and distribution of bamlanivimab and bebtelovimab.

AbCellera's pandemic response capabilities were developed over the past four years as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Pandemic Prevention Platform program.

The goal of the P3 program is to establish a robust technology platform for pandemic response capable of developing field-ready medical countermeasures within 60 days of isolation of an unknown viral pathogen.

AbCellera is a technology company that searches, decodes, and analyzes natural immune systems to find antibodies that its partners can develop into drugs to prevent and treat disease.

AbCellera partners with drug developers of all sizes, from large pharmaceutical to small biotechnology companies, empowering them to move quickly, reduce cost, and tackle the toughest problems in drug development.