MONTREAL and June 18, 2020 are the dates for the funding round, led by founding investor Amplitude Ventures. Amplitude Ventures is joined by Charles River Laboratories (CRL), Investissement Quebec (IQ), Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Alexandria Venture Investments. Ability, a pioneer of the application generative Artificial Intelligence to therapeutic discovery, focuses on discovering and developing potent, selective antibody therapeutics against cancer and immune-related disorders. Ability Biologics’ AbiLeap ™ discovery engine generates novel, logic enabled antibodies that have the potential to be best-in class or first-in class therapeutics.
Ability’s leadership team has deep experience in immunology and antibody discovery. They have also worked on engineering and therapeutic development. This experience is being used to create next-generation antibodies with its proprietary AI platform. The AbiLeap ™ discovery platform is an AI built on one of the largest databases ever constructed of antibody-antigen interaction data, bringing together over five years of discovery and incorporating public and private data. AbiLeap ™ allows Ability a long-standing challenge by generating fully-human antibodies that are logic gated. This allows them to target specific tissue and cells based upon the local microenvironment including conditions such secondary antigens pH, temperature, and/or presence of specific metabolites.
“We are seeing a need to develop a new generation antibodies and modalities, as binding, blocking, or agonizing one receptor is not sufficient to achieve therapeutic impact,” said Giles Day. Co-founder and CEO at Ability. “At Ability our platform overlays several approaches in a single molecular, increasing specificity and selectivity, to develop potent therapies with broad therapeutic windows. To achieve this, our antibodies use tried and tested IgG format that allows easier manufacturing, storage, and administration. This avoids complex formats that can introduce multiple risks, from manufacturing to immunogenicity,” concluded Giles Day.
“We are focused to solve the next set complex biology challenges, and one of them involves tackling the issue of off-target, on-tissue toxicity which is limiting antibody therapy’s utility,” said Dion Madsen CFA, Partner and Co-Founder at Amplitude Ventures. “Ability’s proprietary technology stands out as a smart way to rapidly develop selective and potent ultra-targeted biologics that enhance potency and improve patient outcomes.”
Bicha Bicha, President & CEO of Investissement Quebec, said: “The biotech and life science sector is constantly changing, and we’re proud to support Ability’s innovations.” “Using the latest technologies like artificial intelligence in the development antibodies will solidify Quebec’s expertise in a field that is critical for the treatment of cancer and other diseases that affect many Quebecers each year.”
About Ability Biologics
Ability Biologics, the leading cell targeting company, is a leader in the field. Its powerful AbiLeap ™ discovery engines combine massively parallel, constantly learning AI with a large database of antigen/antibody interactions in order to generate multi-specific, fully human IgG-based antibodies of exquisite affinity and selectivity. The antibodies respond to signals in the cellular microenvironment and generate logic-gated therapies. Ability is committed to developing the most potent, selective antibody therapeutics in areas of great need. For more information, please visit capability.bio or our linkedin profile. You can also contact us by email at [email protected].
About Amplitude Ventures
Amplitude is an all-stack venture firm that uses a unique growth-model to build companies and scale them to their breakout potential. Amplitude invests in leading precision medicine companies using a proven, data-driven approach. Find out more about Amplitude’s Pre-Amp venture studio by visiting amplitudevc.com.
Fonds de solidarité FTQ
The Fonds de Solidarite FTQ, which was created 40 years ago, is a source for pride in Quebec. It fulfills its mission by using a unique business plan. The Fonds has been a driving force in Quebec since its creation, thanks to the retirement funds of more than 769,000 shareholders. The Fonds, with a net asset of 18.9 billion at December 31, 2023 supports over 3,700 companies by investing in venture and development capital. This is based on the belief financial returns are just as important as social ones. For more information, visit fondsftq.com.
About Investissement Quebec
Investissement Quebec has a mission to play a role in Quebec economic growth by stimulating business innovation, entrepreneurship and business acquisitions as well as growing investment and exports. The Corporation, which operates in all administrative regions of the province, supports the growth and creation of businesses of any size with customized financial solutions and investments. The Corporation also provides consulting services and other measures of support, including the technological assistance offered by Investissement Quebec Innovation. Investissement Quebec International is a subsidiary of the Corporation that helps Quebec companies with exporting activities. For more information, visit investquebec.com.
About Theodorus
Theodorus is a venture-capital fund that targets primarily high-potential spinoffs from “Universite libre de Bruxelles“, though it is open to all innovative ventures within the life sciences. The fund invests in biotechnology, medical technologies and healthcare technology companies at an early stage that have created disruptive innovations. Theodorus plays a key role in the development of its portfolio companies, and is involved in their success. Theodorus currently manages more than 100 million assets, which have supported over 40 businesses. Theodorus has offices located in Montreal, and Brussels. For more information, visit theodorus.be.
Media Contact: Philippe Periou Communications-Marketing, [email protected], +1 450.831.4414 (GMT – 4h)
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