Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for AbCellera's Full Year 2025 Earnings Call. Our presentation today, our earnings press release, and our SEC filings are available on our Investor Relations website. The information we provide about our pipeline is intended for the investment community and is not promotional. Our transition to a clinical-stage biotech is complete, and our focus has fully shifted from building our platform to building our pipeline.

At the beginning of the year, our pipeline consisted of two preclinical programs, ABCL635 and ABCL575. Announced at our Q2 earnings, this is the third program added to our pipeline and the second program that's derived from our GPCR and ion channel platform. However, in either scenario, we are committed to advancing the other programs in our pipeline with a focus on developing first-in-class opportunities. Looking at the overall pipeline, we anticipate two clinical readouts in 2026 and the potential for multiple catalysts in 2027.

Given our focus on the advancement of our proprietary pipeline, and as noted in our SEC filings, we will stop reporting on our partner-initiated program starts on a quarterly basis in 2026. Turning to revenue and expenses, revenue for the year was $75 million, comprising $27 million relating to work on partnered programs and $47 million from licensing and royalty payments. This compares to a total revenue of approximately $29 million in 2024. With respect to research fee revenues, as we have mentioned in the past, we expect these to trend lower as we focus on our internal pipeline.

What went well
  • Delivered on all four 2025 priorities - initiated Phase 1 trials for its first two programs, completed platform investments, brought clinical manufacturing online, and exceeded the development-candidate goal by nominating two (ABCL688 in autoimmunity and ABCL386 in oncology) rather than one.
  • Advanced lead program ABCL635 into the randomized, double-blind Phase 2 portion in January 2026 on the strength of early biomarker and safety data, increasing the estimated probability of success.
  • FY2025 revenue rose to ~$75 million (from ~$29 million in 2024), including ~$47 million of licensing/royalty revenue - ~$36 million of it from settling the patent dispute with Bruker.
  • Ended the year with ~$561 million in cash and marketable securities and ~$700 million of total available liquidity, and unlocked $63 million of real-estate liquidity in Q4 via a JV loan repayment and mortgage financing.
  • A partner molecule (Arsenal Bio's AB-3028, using licensed Trianni technology) reached the clinic, taking the cumulative total to 19 molecules; a review found ~48 of 104 downstream programs still actively progressing.
  • Net loss improved to ~$146 million for the year (from ~$163 million in 2024).
What went wrong
  • The company remained heavily loss-making: FY2025 net loss of ~$146 million (-$0.49 per share) and ~$130 million of operating cash used during the year.
  • R&D expense rose ~$20 million to ~$187 million as internal-program investment increased.
  • The pivotal ABCL635 Phase 2 readout carries binary risk - management warned a negative result would delay the company's progression to a late-stage clinical company, and that understanding of hot-flash biology remains incomplete.
  • Roughly half of the 104 partner-initiated downstream programs are no longer progressing (attrition described as consistent with expectations).
  • The company will stop reporting partner-initiated program starts quarterly in 2026, reducing a historical disclosure metric.

Guidance Changes

MetricPeriodCurrent guidance
ABCL635 Phase 2 (proof-of-concept) top-line readoutQ3 2026Anticipated in Q3 2026 - the year's most important readout, viewed as potentially highly de-risking
ABCL575 Phase 1 top-line readoutQ4 2026Anticipated in Q4 2026
ABCL688 and ABCL386 INDs/CTAs2027IND/CTA submissions expected in 2027, with Phase 1/2 studies thereafter
Fifth development candidateFirst half of 2026Anticipate advancing a fifth program into IND-enabling activities in H1 2026
Clinical-stage programsBy mid-2027Expect five clinical-stage programs across large-market indications by mid-2027
Liquidity runwayMulti-yearSufficient liquidity to fund well beyond the next three years of pipeline investment

Performance Breakdown

MetricYoYNote
FY2025 total revenue ~$75M (vs ~$29M) $27M research fees + $47M licensing/royalty, incl. ~$36M Bruker settlement
R&D expense +$20M to ~$187M Increased investment in internal programs
SG&A expense ~$83M (vs ~$86M) Includes now-settled Bruker litigation costs
Net loss ~$146M (vs ~$163M); EPS -$0.49 Higher revenue and Bruker settlement, partly offset by higher R&D
Year-end liquidity ~$561M cash/securities; ~$700M total Includes committed government funding plus off-balance-sheet real-estate liquidity
Molecules in the clinic 19 cumulative Arsenal Bio's AB-3028 (licensed Trianni technology) reached the clinic

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

TopicPrevious mentionCurrent periodTrend
Transition completeBuilding the platformFocus fully shifted from building the platform to building the pipeline—
ABCL635 as the key value driverPhase 1 dosingIn Phase 2; Q3 2026 readout could confirm the first 'winner' - blockbuster potential if it hits the target product profile (efficacy comparable to Lynkuet/Veozah, differentiated safety, once-monthly SC dosing)—
Pipeline breadthTwo programsFour programs (adding ABCL688 and ABCL386) plus 20+ in discovery; targeting five clinical-stage programs by mid-2027—
Oncology/induced-menopause upsideVMS from natural menopauseExploring ABCL635 for VMS induced by cancer treatments (breast and prostate cancer)—
ABCL575 class dynamicsDifferentiated dosing thesisPositioned second-line to Dupixent; a Kaposi's-sarcoma event in the class viewed as not materially changing the value proposition—

Q&A Summary

Which oncology indications are most appealing for VMS expansion, and does ABCL635 need to beat elinzanetant?
Noonberg pointed to breast cancer (patients on aromatase inhibitors, tamoxifen, or after oophorectomy) and prostate cancer (androgen-deprivation therapy). Even with equivalent efficacy, she sees major differentiation from a clean safety profile without liver monitoring and once-monthly dosing, with potential upside from deeper, more sustained target engagement.
Will the Q3 target-engagement data be published, and has the OX40L bar risen for ABCL575?
Noonberg said the Phase 1 target-engagement/safety data will be released together with the Phase 2 readout in Q3 2026, with no earlier disclosure. She said the OX40L investment thesis is unchanged and a class Kaposi's-sarcoma event does not meaningfully change ABCL575's value proposition.
How much clinical-trial infrastructure can AbCellera support as the pipeline expands?
Hansen said the company has reshaped itself since 2023 toward biology, translational medicine and clinical development, and has the resources and intent to build operational capacity so programs (including a potential ABCL635 pivotal study) are not under-resourced.
What determines the 2027 decision to develop or out-license ABCL575?
Noonberg said the decision will be based largely on external factors and partnership opportunities; internally the molecule has met Phase 1 expectations, and the company is also considering combination or bispecific approaches.

More on AbCellera Biologics Inc.

Reported 2026-02-24 · figures from the AbCellera Biologics Inc. Q4 2025 earnings call.

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