What Management Said

Read the full Q2 2026 transcript ↗

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. The most significant public disclosures since our last earnings call are related to business development associated with our T-cell engager platform. Looking at revenue and expenses, revenue for the quarter was around $4 million compared to total revenue of approximately $17 million in the same quarter of 2025.

The large decrease in SG&A expenses relates to the conclusion of our intellectual property litigation case and to changes in the teams following the focus on our internal pipeline. Looking at earnings, we are reporting a net loss of roughly $55 million for the second quarter of 2026, compared to a loss of about $35 million a year earlier. In terms of earnings per share, this result works out to a loss of $0.18 per share on a basic and diluted basis. That's a $6 million increase in total cash for the first half of 2026.

Included in the operating cash flow is the receipt of $56 million from the upfront payments under our TCE deal with Jazz. Excluding marketable securities, investment activities year to date included approximately $6 million of capital expenditures offset by $7 million in government grants received. As a reminder, we have received commitments for funding the advancement of our internal pipeline from the Government of Canada Strategic Innovation Fund and the Government of British Columbia. With respect to overall company expenditures, our capital needs are very manageable.

What went well
  • AbCellera signed two new T-cell engager (TCE) collaborations -- with Vertex and with Jazz Pharmaceuticals -- adding over $110 million in upfront cash to the balance sheet, on top of downstream payments and tiered royalties.
  • The Jazz TCE deal is one of the largest TCE discovery deals reported to date, covering three confirmed programs with $84 million in near-term upfront payments ($56 million already received), over $2 billion in potential downstream payments, and total potential value exceeding $4 billion including two optioned programs.
  • The lead clinical asset ABCL635 for moderate-to-severe menopausal hot flashes (VMS) completed enrollment and initial dosing ahead of schedule in June, setting up a top-line phase II readout 'very soon' that management believes would highly de-risk the program if positive.
  • The balance sheet remains strong, with over $565 million in cash and equivalents plus roughly $110 million of secured government funding -- over $675 million in total available liquidity, sufficient to fund at least the next three years of pipeline investment.
  • SG&A fell to approximately $14 million from $22 million a year earlier, reflecting the conclusion of the IP litigation case and team changes tied to the internal-pipeline focus.
  • The board added two experienced biopharma executives, Dr. Victor Sandor and Dr. Lynn Seely, as independent directors, bringing development expertise across oncology, women's health, immunology, and endocrinology.
What went wrong
  • Revenue fell to approximately $4 million from about $17 million a year earlier, consisting mostly of research fees, as the model shifts toward internal-pipeline value creation rather than near-term service revenue.
  • The net loss widened to roughly $55 million ($0.18 per share) from about $35 million a year earlier, reflecting higher R&D investment in internal programs.
  • R&D expense rose about $7 million year-over-year to approximately $46 million as spending concentrated on internal programs.
  • Management missed its earlier goal of moving another program into IND-enabling activities in the first half of the year, though it said good progress continues.
  • The core scientific risk on ABCL635 remains unresolved -- whether blocking NK3R in the preoptic nucleus (beyond suppressing KNDy neurons) matters for efficacy -- an open question that only the imminent phase II data can answer.
  • ABCL575 will be discontinued after phase I as previously planned, with a readout still expected in Q4 but no development beyond phase I.

Guidance Changes

MetricPeriodCurrent guidance
ABCL635 phase II top-line readoutNear termExpected 'very soon'; four-week efficacy data in all patients (no 12-week subset), single-dose design
ABCL575 phase I readoutQ4 2026On track; no development planned past phase I
ABCL688 and ABCL3862027Both expected to enter phase I/II studies in 2027
Liquidity runway3+ yearsOver $675 million available liquidity; sufficient to fund at least the next three years of pipeline investment

Performance Breakdown

MetricYoYNote
Revenue -76% to ~$4M Down from ~$17M a year earlier; mostly research fees as the business prioritizes internal-pipeline value over near-term service revenue.
R&D expense +~$7M to ~$46M Increased investment focused on internal programs.
SG&A expense -$8M to ~$14M Conclusion of the IP litigation case and team changes following the internal-pipeline focus.
Net loss -$55M vs -$35M Wider loss on higher R&D and lower revenue; $0.18 loss per share basic and diluted.
Total cash and marketable securities $567M (up $6M in H1) Operating activities used ~$8M in H1, offset by $56M of Jazz upfront payments and government grants; $420M held in short-term marketable securities.

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

TopicPrevious mentionCurrent periodTrend
T-cell engager (TCE) platformFirst TCE collaboration announced with AbbVie last yearAfter five years of investment, the platform (diverse CD3 binders, costimulatory antibodies, protein-engineering workflows, and translational insight) is now an established, highly enabled platform for multi-specific TCEs across oncology and autoimmunity, attracting Vertex and Jazz as new partners.—
ABCL635 differentiation in VMSInterim phase I showed robust, sustained target engagementAs a once-monthly antibody specific to NK3R, management expects a clean safety profile without the liver-monitoring burden or NK1R-linked somnolence seen with approved small molecules, targeting frequency reduction of at least ~20% vs placebo and at least two fewer hot flashes per day.—
Resource allocation across platformsHeavy build-out of TCE foundationTCE work is largely 'in the bank,' shifting from building capabilities to executing on them for internal and partner programs; still significantly more effort on the GPCR/ion-channel side, with TCE remaining a strong pillar.—
VMS commercial opportunity—Management sees over a million U.S. women contraindicated for hormone therapy, plus substantial populations with cancer-therapy-associated hot flashes (breast and prostate cancer) and HRT-intolerant patients, supporting phase II studies in VMS associated with cancer treatment alongside late-stage menopause development.—
Non-dilutive government fundingCommitments from Canada SIF and British ColumbiaRoughly $110 million of available committed government funding sits off the balance sheet, supplementing $565M+ cash and providing over $675M of total liquidity without shareholder dilution.—

Q&A Summary

Steve Seedhouse (Cantor) asked what constitutes a clinically meaningful VMS improvement on the severity scale and whether threshold frequency analyses would accompany top-line data.
Hansen defined success as a clean safety profile plus efficacy comparable to the two approved small molecules -- a frequency response of at least ~20% versus placebo and a reduction of at least two hot flashes per day -- and said severity, historically easier to hit than frequency, should track if frequency is met, with the team focused primarily on frequency.
Seedhouse also asked why not move directly into phase III label-enabling studies in cancer indications given OASIS-4 and expected positive phase II data.
Hansen deferred detail to CMO Sarah but said the plan is to first enter the different oncology patient population before later-stage trials, sequencing those studies as quickly as possible after the menopause readout and setup for the larger VMS study.
An analyst asked about liver-safety differentiation and whether it could help capture the first-line non-hormonal market.
Hansen said safety is a key differentiator: both approved small molecules require liver monitoring, a property he attributes to small-molecule metabolism that an antibody should avoid, with phase I showing no perceptible liver-enzyme increase; the NK3R-specific antibody should also avoid the NK1R-linked somnolence seen with the Bayer molecule, making improved safety plus once-monthly dosing paramount.
Allison Bratzel (Piper Sandler) asked about placebo-arm expectations in the phase II and design features to mitigate placebo response.
Hansen said prior trials all showed a pronounced placebo response, so AbCellera expects a comparable one; mitigation relies on sound clinical operations and blinded enrollment, and a key open question is exactly where the placebo response lands, which the imminent readout will reveal.
Debanjana Chatterjee (Jones Trading) asked about the scientific debate over whether inhibiting NK3R in the medial preoptic nucleus is crucial versus suppressing KNDy neurons in the arcuate nucleus.
Hansen called this the key remaining scientific risk; phase I showed profound, durable testosterone suppression reading through to the KNDy neurons believed most important, so if those are the only neurons that matter the drug should be efficacious (possibly better than small molecules), while whether preoptic NK3R blockade adds benefit will be answered by the phase II data.

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Q2 2026 call
Reported 2026-08-05 · figures from the AbCellera Biologics Inc. Q2 2026 earnings call.

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