2 min read

Abveris Announces Equity-Bearing Antibody Discovery Partnership with Saccharo

By Ryan Kelly on 12/2/20 9:21 AM

See the announcement on PR Newswire


Canton, MA, USA--(San Francisco, CA, USA)--Abveris, Inc. (“Abveris”) announced today that it has entered into an antibody discovery partnership with Saccharo, Inc. (“Saccharo”) for the discovery of monoclonal antibodies to advance the Saccharo therapeutic pipeline. Under the terms of the agreement, Abveris will utilize its proprietary DiversimAbTM mouse model in combination with its next-generation B cell screening platform, powered by the Berkeley Lights Beacon®, to rapidly discover monoclonal antibodies. In return for discovery services provided, Abveris will receive compensation partially in the form of equity.

“The team at Saccharo has identified a novel druggable target of great potential and we are honored to be working with them to identify candidate antibodies for clinical development,” commented Garren Hilow, Chief Business Officer of Abveris. “By pairing best-in-class discovery tools with our team of impassioned scientists, we believe that we offer Saccharo the best chance of success in discovering and optimizing the biologic they require for clinical advancement.”

Saccharo_logo

"Saccharo is delighted to be working with Abveris. We see Abveris’s scientists, experience, skills and technology platforms as offering the best potential for success,” said Sherry Martin-Moe, PhD, President/CEO and Co-Founder of Saccharo. “Importantly, they have been real partners in understanding the science and developing a sound strategy to produce the best possible antibodies for Saccharo to take to the clinic.”

About Abveris: 

Abveris is Boston's premier antibody discovery company providing contract research services to the biopharma industry. Abveris applies advanced immunization methods combined with B cell screening and hybridoma-based antibody discovery technologies to provide comprehensive gene-to-antibody discovery services. Abveris is developing the next generation of biologics, cell therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics in partnership with global leaders in biopharma. Additional information about Abveris is available at www.ABVERIS.com.

About Saccharo:

Saccharo is a biotech start up in the immuno-shielding oncology space in pursuit of products for a novel polysaccharide target uniquely found on cancer cells only-not on normal cells, that is constant across all stages and types of cancer. The target is involved in a novel immune shielding pathway and serves as a platform for multiple drug modalities. Additional information about Saccharo is available at www.SACCHARO.com.

Contacts for Abveris

Ryan Kelly

Director of Business Development

rkelly@abveris.com

781-562-1170 x1002

 

Contact for saccharo:

Sherry Martin-Moe, PhD

President/CEO and Co-Founder

Smartinmoe@saccharo.com

Topics: Insider Press Releases
1 min read

Joint Application Note By Abveris and Berkeley lights

By Gary Ng on 11/2/20 1:59 PM

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Abveris and Berkeley Lights have published a joint application note on Rapid High-Resolution Screening of Plasma B Cells to Identify Antibody Lead Candidates. This document covers a variety of applications and cutting-edge cell-based assays developed by Abveris using Berkeley Lights's Beacon platform. The following contents are discussed in the note: 

  • Deliver anti-idiotypic antibodies with competitive ligand-blocking activity in half the time of a traditional hybridoma screen

  • Discover a diverse panel of rare, high-affinity antibodies that could not be discovered using phage display against an antigen with a completely homologous off-target product

  • Develop an adherent cell-based binding assay that enables discovery of lead candidate sequences against a challenging membrane-bound target in just 29 days

 

 

Download Application Note


Check out all Abveris materials

Topics: Service & Product Updates Single B Cell Screening
2 min read

Abveris Announces Partnership with Immunitas using the DiversimAb Mouse on the Berkeley Lights Beacon

By Ryan Kelly on 10/8/20 4:11 PM

See the announcement on PR Newswire


Canton, MA, USA – Abveris, Inc. ("Abveris") announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Immunitas Therapeutics, Inc. ("Immunitas") for the discovery of monoclonal antibodies to expand the Immunitas therapeutic pipeline. Under the terms of the agreement, Abveris will utilize its proprietary DiversimAbTM mouse model in combination with its next-generation B cell screening platform, powered by the Berkeley Lights Beacon®, to rapidly discover monoclonal antibodies for use as research reagents and therapeutics for immuno-oncology.

"The Immunitas team is uniquely positioned to identify novel therapeutic oncology targets using their innovative single cell genomics-based techniques. Pairing the Immunitas platform with efficient discovery of highly diverse panels of antibodies will result in the rapid identification of therapeutic-quality antibodies," commented Tracey Mullen, CEO of Abveris. "Our function-forward approach to antibody discovery will enable Abveris to deliver fully validated drug candidates in accelerated timelines. Ultimately, the synergy between the two platforms will result in faster delivery of targeted therapies to the patients who need them."    

immunitastx

"We are excited to collaborate with Abveris to accelerate the pace of discovery for some of our new antibody therapeutics," said Jeff Goldberg, CEO of Immunitas. "Our platform rapidly generates and validates new targets for treating challenging cancers. Working with Abveris will enable us to quickly identify and select highly specific antibodies for those targets, so that we can take the best antibody forward to address the needs of particular patient populations."

 

About Abveris: 

Abveris is Boston's premier antibody discovery company providing contract research services to the biopharma industry. Abveris applies advanced immunization methods combined with B cell screening and hybridoma-based antibody discovery technologies to provide comprehensive gene-to-antibody discovery services. Abveris is developing the next generation of biologics, cell therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics in partnership with global leaders in biopharma. Find additional information about Abveris at www.ABVERIS.com.

 

Contact for Abveris:

Ryan Kelly

Director of Business Development

rkelly@abveris.com

781-562-1170 x1002

Topics: Insider Press Releases
2 min read

Tips for Job Seekers From Our Hiring Team

By Haley Assner on 7/31/20 9:15 AM

Abveris is hiring and we want to help you get the job! Here are some guidelines from our hiring team to help you make your application stand out. Then, head over to our career page to apply!

The Job Search: CLICK TO APPLY

Online job postings receive floods of applications because of the convenience of applying through the internet. While applying to Abveris, please make sure to submit all required materials (incomplete applications not considered). It's important to follow up on positions that spark your interest. If you apply to Abveris and haven't heard back from us, contact us via phone or email.  Advocate for yourself and be patient while awaiting a response. 

Resume

Tailor your resume to the application and format it so that it is easy to read. We receive many applications and want to be able to identify key information quickly. Use a professional email address, a professional font like Times New Roman or Arial, and use action words in the past tense to describe your previous work experiences. Avoid using phrases like "responsibilities include" or words like "tries." Instead, use action words like "established," "prepared," "improved," etc.

"The most important tool you have on a resume is language" -Jay Samit

Cover Letter

Address specific reasons why you want to work at Abveris and directly indicate how your strengths align with our mission. Read through the job description and use your cover letter to explicitly show that you demonstrated each of the skills the job description lists. The same job experience can be used to illustrate vastly different abilities, depending on how you explain it.

The Interview

We hire people who make us excited to come to work. Interviews allow our team the opportunity to decide whether there is a good fit. We asked our team to list a few tips for our interviewees. Here's what they said:

  • Let your excitement for the job and the company shine! Research the company before your interview, test your understanding of the role, and brainstorm questions.  
  • Show us how your job experiences have prepared you to help bring our team to the next level. In your opinion, where are you strongest, and how can we best support you?
  • Help us understand what drives you as a person. Don't be afraid to show your personality! We are a small, tight-knit team, and we like to have fun together.

Buoyancy

Though stressful, job hunting can be a time of great excitement. Don't get discouraged on your journey to a new career. Our team values persistence, and we are looking forward to hearing from you!

Topics: Team Updates
2 min read

A Message From Abveris Creator Garren Hilow on the Promotion of Tracey Mullen to CEO

By Garren Hilow on 7/13/20 8:00 AM

When a leader has the innate ability to help those around them become better, stronger all while focusing on the future, those abilities are rewarded.

That is why, effective today, Tracey Mullen will take over as Chief Executive Officer of Abveris. This change allows me to focus more on strategic partnerships and business development as Chief Business Officer. This decision was entirely my -own and, as the primary business owner of Abveris, a choice I believe is the right direction for our company.

During Tracey’s tenure at Abveris she has been responsible for increasing our average monthly revenue by 160%, more than doubling our company headcount, and co-leading the implementation of the Beacon B cell screening platform. A native of Connecticut, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical-Biological Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and her Executive Masters of Business Administration from Quantic School of Business and Technology.

Abveris is a scientific company and should be led by an elite scientist. With a strong focus on cutting-edge science and engineering, we at Abveris have the ability to change the future of medicine. We are now on a path to ensure this is our legacy. As we move out of the startup stage it is time for a new leader who has the skills I deem most valuable for our future: scientific knowledge, operational excellence, and courage.

Tracey is the most capable, talented, courageous and emotionally intelligent professional I have ever had the opportunity to know. She has earned the respect of everyone on our team and every one of our partners.  She is one of those rare leaders who makes everyone around her stronger and better — the rising tide that lifts all boats, not just a select few.

She is a glowing example of the next generation of leadership: a combination of subject matter expertise and sharp business acumen. There is a significant yet rare advantage in a leader like Tracey, who possesses an extensive understanding of our industry’s business operations as well as the intricate, technical details of our company’s work on the front lines.

I believe that a CEO should be the personification of her company’s brand. Tracey is Abveris personified: smart, hardworking, science-forward, deeply committed to success and fiercely competitive. I can’t think of a better embodiment of our premium, elite, yet approachable brand. Abveris has worked for years to hone the right brand, in the right market, with the right offering at the right time. Now that we have the right leader for the next phase of our company growth, we will move with more precision toward the opportunities that await us. 

Our business is, and has always been, to make quality biologic drugs. The antibodies we deliver will help cure disease and increase the quality of life globally. It is imperative that we continue to push ourselves as an organization to do the best job we possibly can so we can help make the world a better, healthier place. With Tracey making organization-wide decisions, Abveris will continue successfully fulfilling our mission to deliver the next generation of life-saving therapies.

In health and to our future,

Garren Hilow

Chief Business Officer, Creator, Owner

Topics: Insider Team Updates Press Releases
3 min read

Abveris beer: Get It While It's cold!

By Ryan Kelly on 6/30/20 8:59 AM

Made by mAb scientists, for mAb scientists
BEST ENJOYED AFTER A LONG DAY IN THE LAB

We teamed up with our neighbors at Castle Island Brewery to bring you specialty beers that mAb scientists are sure to love! Introducing mAb Scientist IPA and Six Pack mAbs Lager. Our team designed some hilarious labels and the Castle Island team came through with some delicious lager and IPA options. 

We'll be sending out cases of beer to our partners, but we also recognize many of you are working from home right now. Click below to provide your address information for us to send you some free brews! 

BEER CALL: ADD ME TO THE LIST!

mAb Scientist IPA: OUR FLAGSHIP BEER
Abveris Beer Labels FINAL 2020-04-072 mab scientist

This beer is smooth but punchy; balanced yet intense. Despite the colossal amount of hops crammed into this beer, it’s still remarkably approachable for pros and rookies alike!

Our team held a naming competition for our flagship beer. After a close vote with many great names in the running, mAbScientist IPA rose to victory.  You may be asking: why does she have antibodies for hands? Fun fact: our monthly all-hands meeting is called "Monthly mAbs For Hands" after our all hands on approach to antibody discovery. 

MALTS: 2 ROW, VIENNA, CRYSTAL DEXTROSE

HOPS: SIMCOE, CASCADE

YEAST: HOUSE YEAST

Six Pack mAbs Lager: A SUMMER SPECIAL
Abveris Beer Labels FINAL 2020-04-07 six pack mabs

Whether you’re catching the game, conquering the trail, or walking in the door from your commute home, sometimes you just need a beer. Brewed distinctively for the everyday, this classic American Lager is light and crisp, and will have you reaching for another sip. So kick your feet up, breathe easy, and crack into a can of this liquid bliss."

This beer label speaks for itself. We all love the beach this time of the year, and we love showing off the muscles we've built while sitting on our butts all day at the biosafety cabinets. 

MALTS: PILSNER, BOHEMIAN WHEAT

HOPS: MAGNUM, RAKAU

YEAST: LAGER YEAST

About Abveris: 

Abveris is Boston's premier antibody discovery company providing contract research services to the biopharma industry. Abveris applies advanced immunization methods combined with B cell screening and hybridoma-based antibody discovery technologies to provide comprehensive gene-to-antibody discovery services. Abveris is developing the next generation of biologics, cell therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics in partnership with global leaders in biopharma. Additional information about Abveris is available at www.ABVERIS.com.

About Castle Island Brewery: 

Castle Island Brewery is based out of Norwood, Ma and can be found in fridges across New England. Their tasteful, easy to drink selection of beers is perfect for all beer drinkers from the beginner to the beer expert. Castle Island has their main staples, including the Keeper, American Lager, White Ale, and CandlePin but they are always making new exciting beers to keep up with their loyal customers evolving tastes! Check out more on their website: www.castleislandbeer.com

Topics: Insider Events
3 min read

Abveris Announces Partnership with Nkarta using the Trianni Mouse on the Berkeley Lights Beacon

By Ryan Kelly on 5/12/20 8:08 AM

Click here to see the press release on BusinessWire.

Canton, MA, USA – Abveris, Inc. (“Abveris”) announced today that it has entered into an antibody discovery partnership with Nkarta, Inc. (“Nkarta”) for the discovery of fully-human monoclonal antibodies to support the advancement of Nkarta’s novel cell-based therapeutics. Under the terms of the agreement, Abveris will apply its next-generation B cell screening platform (powered by the Berkeley Lights Beacon®) to rapidly discover fully human monoclonal antibodies using the Trianni Mouse®, an industry-leading transgenic mouse R&D platform. 

“We have worked with the Trianni Mouse across several therapeutic antibody programs and have been impressed with the success of these campaigns,” commented Colby Souders, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Abveris. “Abveris is uniquely positioned to dramatically shorten therapeutic discovery timelines while enhancing candidate selection by pairing optimized immunization methods in the Trianni Mouse with high-resolution single B cell screening enabled by the Berkeley Lights Beacon.”    

Trianni

“We believe this partnership brings together powerful discovery technologies with the potential for accelerating Nkarta’s pipeline of natural killer cell therapy candidates,” said James Trager, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Nkarta. “We look forward to working closely with the Abveris team on the identification of targeted antibodies ideally suited for our cell engineering and manufacturing platform.”

Learn more:  B cell screening at Abveris

“The Nkarta team is situated to redefine the way we think about cell therapies, and we are delighted to be working with their team of impassioned scientists,” added Tracey Mullen, MBA, Chief Operating Officer of Abveris. “This partnership highlights our continued commitment to working with organizations leveraging antibody therapeutics in innovative and transformative ways.” 

"We at Trianni are thrilled that the partnership of Abveris and Nkarta includes the use of the Trianni Mice. It is gratifying to contribute to the program of creating novel antibody therapeutics," said Matthias Wabl, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Trianni, Inc.

Get in touch with Abveris

About Abveris: 

Abveris is Boston's premier antibody discovery company providing contract research services to the biopharma industry. Abveris applies advanced immunization methods combined with B cell screening and hybridoma-based antibody discovery technologies to provide comprehensive gene-to-antibody discovery services. Abveris is developing the next generation of biologics, cell therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics in partnership with global leaders in biopharma. Additional information about Abveris is available at www.ABVERIS.com.

About Trianni, Inc: 

Trianni, Inc. is a privately held biotech company specializing in antibody discovery technology. Trianni’s lead technology, the Trianni Mouse®, is a powerful, next-generation platform enabling efficient generation of fully-human monoclonal antibodies. Trianni’s transgenic platform leverages a novel approach to design made possible by advances in DNA synthesis and genomic modification technology. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Additional information about Trianni is available through its corporate website, www.TRIANNI.com.

 

Contact for Abveris:

Ryan Kelly

Director of Business Development

rkelly@abveris.com

781-562-1170 x1002

 

Contact for Trianni:

Elizabeth Tran

Marketing manager

elizabeth.tran@trianni.com

(415) 231-0257

 

Topics: Insider Press Releases
2 min read

Sustainable Science: Introducing Carbon-Neutral Shipping

By Matthew Bartolucci on 4/22/20 8:10 PM

Did you know that laboratory facilities often use 5-10x more energy compared to similarly-sized “normal” office spaces? Abveris is enacting sweeping changes to our laboratory and business operations to reduce our company's carbon footprint. 

In this post, we’ll detail our initiatives built to dramatically reduce the carbon cost of our shipping, including adopting carbon-neutral shipping methods and material reuse programs. We’ll share tips to implement similar changes at your company, too. 

 
Cold-chain shipping:
ESSENTIAL FOR RESEARCH & ENVIRONMENTALLY COSTLY 

Shipping is an important part of scientific collaborations today, which often extend beyond state and country lines. Since our founding five years ago, we’ve collaborated with scientists in more than 15 countries across four continents. For shipment of temperature-sensitive materials, we often rely on energy-intensive cold chain shipping methods that require additional packaging and refrigerants like ice packs, dry ice or liquid nitrogen. 

Initiative:
Carbon Offsets & Carbon-Neutral Shipping

Carbon offset programs allow small companies and individuals to participate in environmental projects to balance out their own carbon footprints. Abveris participates in verified carbon offset programs to support reforestation, landfill gas destruction, wastewater treatment, and methane destruction. 

You may be asking: how can I use carbon-neutral shipping?

Major shipping companies like UPS offer carbon-neutral shipping options. You'll be surprised to find that, often, the switch to carbon-neutral shipping will only impact shipment cost by $1 or less. 

Initiative:
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

We are reducing our use of virgin materials by reusing the insulated shippers sent to us by our suppliers. We receive many high-quality insulated shipping containers used for the shipment of non-hazardous materials, like culture media.  Simply by reusing shipping boxes, we able to cut our use of virgin materials in half without sacrificing any quality of the materials we deliver to you.   

You may be asking: how can I start a box reuse program? 

Reusing a box should be easy in most BSL1 and BSL2 laboratory settings. Here are some quick tips to make sure you’re preparing the box appropriately to ship without issue:

  • Cover all outer box labels from the box's previous journey. 

    Cover all of the labels on the box, even those that might still be relevant. We recommend using blank white shipping labels to “white-out” and cover all of the stickers. Add the new box labels on top of the “white-out.”  This is important to ensure there are no delays in your shipment. 

  • When in doubt, throw it out.

    If the box is structurally compromised or potentially contaminated, it should not be reused. Only use boxes in good condition to keep your precious samples (and the people handling them) safe. 

  • For international shipments, it’s best to use new.

    During international shipping, it is best practice to present a tidy, clearly labeled product for customs agents. Additionally, for long distance shipments, it is important to select a container with well-defined limitations so you know how long the box will keep your samples cool. During long-distance journeys there may be limited opportunities for dry ice or ice pack replenishment. 

Topics: Green Initiatives
2 min read

FREE WEBINAR: High Throughput Antibody Discovery Targeting Cell Surface Receptors for Signaling Blocking in Cancer

By Travis LeGuyader on 4/14/20 3:11 PM

On-cell receptor functionality is a crucial threshold for drug development. By leveraging high content screening in antibody discovery workflows, you are able to improve the likelihood of campaign success at early stages of development. Join us for our webinar hosted by our COO Tracey Mullen and our friends at Sartorius, where Tracey will walk through a case study outlining how we incorporate this technology for antibody discovery projects targeting cell surface receptors. 

Tuesday, April 28, 2020, 11 am EDT

View on-demand webinar
 
Overview:

The use of monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics to target and treat cancer is considered to be one of the most successful therapeutic strategy within the oncology field to date. Specific cell surface antigen recognition is paramount to the success of these drugs, necessitating high resolution, early stage characterization of lead antibody drug candidates prior to preclinical development. In this webinar, Tracey Mullen, COO of Abveris, will review an antibody discovery campaign targeting a cell surface receptor implicated in cancer. Methods for immunization, antibody discovery, and subsequent functional characterization will be detailed.

Who Should Attend:
  • Antibody discovery scientists and researchers engaged in therapeutic drug discovery in oncology indications

  • Anyone interested in learning more about incorporating high-throughput flow cytometry analysis into early stage research and development

Speakers:
Tracey Mullen, Chief Operating Officer, Abveris

Tracey Mullen is a chemical-biological engineer from MIT who began her career as an Antibody Discovery Scientist at a startup contract research organization specializing in in vivo antibody discovery. In 2013, she joined the Antibody Discovery team at Biogen where she helped implement the technology transfer of the Adimab yeast display platform for antibody discovery and engineering. Throughout her tenure at Biogen, Tracey worked to optimize the in vitro discovery of antibodies to tough targets, including leveraging the Adimab platform to enerate antibodies against GPCRs. In June of 2018, Tracey joined Abveris Antibody as the Director of Antibody Discovery Operations, where she managed project design and development for in vivo discovery projects. She is now the Chief Operating Officer at AbX Biologics (formerly Abveris), a premium antibody discovery service partner boasting industry-leading timelines and cutting-edge technologies.

Carrie Haslam, Associate Editor, Select Science

Carrie Haslam is an Associate Editor at SelectScience, playing a key role in content production and specializing in Alzheimer’s disease and clinical diagnostics. She is finalizing her Ph.D. from Plymouth University, where she developed graphene-based biosensors for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

View on-demand webinar

Topics: Insider Service & Product Updates Events
2 min read

Free Webinar: Accelerating the antibody discovery workflow in the modern therapeutic landscape

By Ryan Kelly on 4/9/20 9:15 AM

How can we access greater antibody diversity through the plasma B cell repertoire? How can we down-select lead candidates in 1 day? Join Abveris and Berkeley Lights for an exclusive webinar opportunity to learn how we're redefining the boundaries of antibody discovery with the Berkeley Lights Beacon platform.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020, 11 am EDT

View on-demand Webinar
 
Overview:

As the complexity of therapeutic targets continues to evolve, more efficient and predictive identification of pertinent antibody candidates becomes increasingly valuable. Incorporating state-of-the-art, high-resolution discovery and antibody characterization tools like the Berkeley Lights platform into discovery workflows enables rapid and reliable selection of lead candidates more effectively than traditional techniques. Elucidating function early during screening and development can enhance candidate triage, as opposed to relying on brute-force methods to characterize large panels containing primarily non-functional clones. Optimization of the discovery platform using the Beacon instrument and case studies will be outlined.

Speakers:
Colby A. Souders, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Abveris

Colby holds a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Texas A&M and has spent the last decade focused on antibody research. He first joined MassBiologics to lead discovery programs, develop platform technologies and advance monoclonal antibodies in the pipeline for the prevention, treatment or diagnosis of infectious and endogenous diseases. He later joined the Kanyos Bio Protein Engineering team to develop therapeutics based on a novel antigen-specific immune tolerance platform. In 2018 Colby joined Abveris Antibody with the goal as Chief Scientific Officer to usher in new antibody discovery tools and build a premium discovery engine.

Anupam Singhal, Ph.D., Product Manager, Antibody Therapeutics, Berkeley Lights

Anupam Singhal earned his PhD from the University of British Columbia and has over 15 years of experience in nanotechnology and microfluidics at UBC, the University of Toronto and Stanford University. His work has been cited over 600 times and resulted in several patents for molecular disease diagnosis, antibody discovery, and development of production cell-lines for biologics. At Berkeley Lights, Anupam leads the development of next-generation platforms for the discovery and development of antibody therapeutics.

View on-demand Webinar

Topics: Insider Service & Product Updates Events

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