Complex Biologics CDMO+ CRO - Abzena

Our History

20+ years of experience in biologics development & manufacturing.

We’ve built a fully integrated organization to move complex biologics and bioconjugates forward.

Since 2001, Abzena has transformed itself into a renowned, global complex biologics and bioconjugates development and manufacturing accelerator. We work with you, our clients, to de-risk and streamline the development and manufacture of novel treatments. Together, we can medicines to patients, faster.

We are proud of our heritage. What really excites us today is the future of next-generation medicine built on our clients incredible ideas. We are ready to help you find solutions for unmet clinical needs through our extensive biologic services, integrated locations, and our values of Scientific Innovation, Integrity and Quality.

2013

2013

Abzena was established in 2013 when two companies, PolyTherics and Antitope, were combined to create a single leading provider of technologies and services to enable better biopharmaceuticals.

Located in the UK, PolyTherics was founded in 2001, and was viewed as an innovator in the bioconjugate space. The company specialized in proprietary site-specific conjugation technologies for antibody drug conjugate development and solutions for optimization of the therapeutic properties of biopharmaceuticals. They were the creators of Abzena's unique ThioBridge® conjugation technology platform, which has been proven to enhance the development of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) by overcoming challenges and improving stability, potency and efficacy.

Also located in the UK, Antitope, founded in 2004, was considered to be an industry leader in immunogenicity assay, protein engineering to create humanized antibodies and deimmunized therapeutic proteins and cell line development for manufacture. They were the creators of EpiScreen, a robust ex-vivo immunogenicity assessment platform and Composite Human Antibody and Composite Protein platforms, which reduce immunogenicity risk and confidently move antibodies and complex biologics forward into development.

Together they served a global customer base including the top multinational large pharmaceutical groups to emerging biotechs.

2015

2015

Abzena expanded its footprint into the US with the acquisition of PacificGMP in 2015. This expansion enabled Abzena to expand its services and provide broader support for its customers’ development projects, by offering biopharmaceutical manufacturing services.

Located in San Diego, CA, PacificGMP, was founded in 2005 and was considered to be a pioneer in single-use manufacturing technology, which is increasingly being used to manufacture biopharmaceuticals. The sites services include process and analytical development, non-GMP and cGMP manufacturing, and regulatory support.

2016

2016
Our US footprint and services toolkit grew with the acquisition of The Chemistry Research Solution (TCRS) in 2016. Located in Bristol, PA, TCRS was founded in 2012 with a focus on producing and analyzing antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). This acquisition broadened Abzena's capabilities in the development and GMP manufacture of ADCs, providing customers a fully integrated offering from discovery through development and manufacture under a single organization.

2018

2018
Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe (WCAS), one of the world’s leading private equity investors, purchased Abzena in 2018. At this time the company was comprised of three locations including Cambridge, UK, Bristol PA, USA and San Diego CA, USA.

2020
Biologics Drug Development & Manufacturing - Abzena

2020
Since the acquisition, WCAS has significantly invested in late phase and commercial cGMP manufacturing facilities in San Diego, CA and Bristol, PA. The Bristol facility enhancements included two new GMP suites, investing in our commercial CMP capacity for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

2022

2022
Early 2022 saw substantial investment from Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and Biospring Partners allowing Abzena to expand its manufacturing facilities for biologic drug substance, fill finish, and to open a biologic testing laboratory. This latest investment addressed growing customer demand by increasing the capacity for both clinical and commercial supply. In addition to building out existing and new manufacturing facilities, the investment was used to augment drug discovery and cell line development, add fill finish (Drug Product) capabilities and complete a new biological testing laboratory. Also in 2022, we enhanced our R&D capabilities at our Cambridge, UK facility. This added support for our rapid antibody discovery services, adding further strength to our capacity in developability, bioconjugation, cell line development and manufacturing."

2023
LabZient™: Rapid Analytical Data

2023
2023 saw a number of significant leadership changes bringing a wealth of experience to lead Abzena's next phase of growth to help our customers move medicine forward. Amongst them, Matthew Stober joined as our new Chief Executive Officer. Matthew has over 30 years of experience at large, multinational pharmaceutical organizations, in manufacturing operational roles. Also in late 2023 Abzena partnered with ProteoNic to offer a new enhanced CHO cell Line platform for complex biologics. AbZelectPRO™ offers to move cell line development (CLD) efficiency forwards. Our CLD experts can rapidly progress therapeutic protein and recombinant vaccine projects, whilst de-risking the journey to Investigational New Drug (IND) application.

2024

2024
Abzena launches LabZient™, an analytical platform to expedite the path to IND for Antibodies. We also further enhanced our immunogenicity testing services with the launch of EpiScreen® 2.0 which offers to help avoid issues later in the drug development process. In March we announced a significant expansion of our Bristol, PA bioconjugate development and cGMP manufacturing site. The investment and facility upgrades, builds on Abzena Bristol's existing bioconjugation services and increases capacity to support the delivery of fully integrated biopharmaceutical drug programs. In June, alongside Argonaut Manufacturing Services, Inc., a cGMP CDMO serving the biopharmaceutical and diagnostics industries, we announced a strategic partnership to provide a fully integrated drug substance and drug product manufacturing solution for biopharmaceutical organizations. This partnership offers a streamlined approach for customers looking to rapidly progress therapies into the clinic, or onward into later-stage commercial manufacturing.

Latest News & Insights

Articles

BioPharm International: Optimizing Process Development for Biologics

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Articles

BioPharm International: MHC-Associated Peptide Proteomics – Immunogenicity and Vaccine Design

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Blog

Insights into Development & Regulatory Considerations for Potency Assays

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