Abcam expands cell engineering capabilities

30 January 2020

ABCAM PLC

("Abcam" or "the Company")

Abcam Expands Cell Engineering Capabilities Through Asset Purchase

of Applied StemCell's Gene Editing Platform and Oncology Product Portfolio

- Transaction adds comprehensive cell editing capabilities and engine to support expansion of Abcam's existing portfolio of 'off-the-shelf' edited cell lines

Abcam (AIM: ABC), a global innovator in life science reagents and tools, today announces the asset purchase of the gene editing platform and oncology product portfolio of Applied StemCell, Inc. ("ASC") for life science research and diagnostic markets (the "acquisition").

Over the last eleven years ASC has established a global reputation for solving the most difficult knock-out and knock-in cell line development challenges. They have successful deployed their proprietary cell editing platform to create cell lines for a broad range of diseases to support the life science and diagnostics industries as well as to advance therapeutic drug discovery.

The transaction includes a portfolio of cell lines and the well-regarded AccuRef reference materials product line (www.accuref.com). Abcam intends to expand the ASC platform to become its discovery engine for developing novel edited cell lines, building upon the portfolio of knock-out (KO) cell lines acquired through the Edigene transaction in 2019. Ready-made KO cell lines play a significant role in the study and understanding of biological pathways and disease models. The portfolio and cell engineering capability will also be deployed to further support Abcam's KO validation initiative, an integral part of the Group's ongoing antibody quality initiative.

Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed and are expected to have a minimal impact on revenue and earnings in the current financial year.

Commenting on the acquisition, Cheri Walker, SVP of Corporate Development at Abcam, said:

"This transaction expands and cements Abcam's position in the edited cell line market, bringing in one of the most widely deployed and technically successful cell engineering platforms into Abcam. The cell line market is in the early stages of development as a research tool, where the ready provision of more choice, with the right gene targets in the right cell lines, will allow the market to rapidly expand."

Ruby Tsai, Co-founder and CSO of ASC, commented:

"Following our strategic decision to focus on stem cell and derivative service and products for both research and therapeutic applications, we are pleased to be transitioning our oncology focused services and products to the global team at Abcam. As recognized industry leaders in the provision of biologic reagents and tools, Abcam is ideally placed to provide expert support to our global user-base." 

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About Abcam plc

As a global life sciences company, Abcam identifies, develops, and distributes high-quality biological reagents and tools that are crucial to research, drug discovery and diagnostics. Working across the industry, the Company supports life scientists to achieve their mission, faster.

Abcam partners with life science organizations to co-create novel binders for use in drug discovery, in vitro diagnostics and therapeutics, driven by the Company's proprietary discovery platforms and world-leading, antibody expertise.

By constantly innovating its binders and assays, Abcam is helping advance the global understanding of biology and causes of disease, which enables new treatments and improved health. The Company's pioneering data-sharing approach gives scientists increased confidence in their results by providing validation, user comments and peer-reviewed citations for its 110,000 products.

With eleven sites globally, many of Abcam's 1,100 strong team are located in the world's leading life science research hubs, complementing a global network of services and support.

To find out more, please visit www.abcam.com and www.abcamplc.com.

About Applied StemCell, Inc.

Applied StemCell, Inc. is a fast-growing biotechnology company with more than 11 years of experience in genome editing and stem cell technologies. Applied StemCell's mission is to advance genome editing technology innovation to enable in vivo/in vitro preclinical study as well as develop more efficacious and safer gene and cell therapies.

More information can be found at www.appliedstemcell.com.

Forward looking statements

This announcement, including any information included or incorporated by reference in this announcement, may contain forward-looking statements (including words such as "believe", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "anticipate" and words of similar meaning) which are based upon current expectations and assumptions regarding anticipated developments and other factors affecting the Abcam Group. All statements other than statements of historical facts may be forward-looking statements and should not be treated as guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Abcam Group, and there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement and accordingly undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. The Abcam Group does not assume any obligation to, and does not intend to, revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as required pursuant to applicable law.