Nautilus and Abcam Announce Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Exploration of the Proteome

SEATTLE and CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, Nov. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ: NAUT; or “Nautilus”), a company pioneering a single-molecule protein analysis platform for quantifying the proteome, and Abcam (AIM:ABC; NASDAQ:ABCM), a global innovator in life sciences research tools, today announced a strategic development and supply partnership.

The relationship leverages Abcam’s industry-leading recombinant monoclonal antibody development technologies and expertise to enhance Nautilus’ reagent research and development, and establishes a long-term supply relationship between the companies. The partnership will initially focus on the collaborative development of affinity binding reagents for use on the Nautilus proteomic analysis system, and will expand in the near future to the large-scale manufacture and supply of reagents for commercialization.

“We are excited to be working closely with Abcam to build reagents that we believe will further enhance our proteomic analysis methods,” said Sujal Patel, co-founder and CEO of Nautilus Biotechnology. “They, like us, envision a future in which proteomic data is expected to become an increasingly important resource that has the potential to support the creation of more effective drugs and diagnostics. Our ability to partner with a company as respected and successful as Abcam provides a strong vote of confidence in that future, and in the promise of the Nautilus protein analysis platform to help make it a reality.”

Abcam’s scale and recombinant antibody manufacturing expertise is expected to support Nautilus in meeting its long-term reagent supply needs from research and development through to commercialization.

“The prospect of biomedical researchers being able to interrogate the proteome at a more comprehensive level offers exciting possibilities for discovery and innovation across multiple disease areas,” said Alan Hirzel, CEO of Abcam. “By combining Nautilus’ protein analysis platform and Abcam’s antibody discovery, development and manufacturing expertise, we hope to better support scientists in the development of drugs and diagnostic tools that ultimately improve outcomes for patients.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Abcam will provide Nautilus with antibodies that are expected to add to and enhance its own library of affinity binding reagents, highlighting the open and customizable nature of Nautilus’ technology. With simple labeling chemistry, the Nautilus platform is designed for use with virtually any biological reagent.

About Nautilus Biotechnology, Inc.

Based in Seattle, Washington, Nautilus (Nasdaq: NAUT) is a development stage life sciences company creating a platform technology for quantifying and unlocking the complexity of the proteome. Nautilus’ mission is to transform the field of proteomics by democratizing access to the proteome and enabling fundamental advancements across human health and medicine. To learn more about Nautilus, visit www.nautilus.bio

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 sciences 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 90,000 products.

With 14 sites globally, many of Abcam’s over 1,600-strong team are located in the world’s leading life sciences research hubs, complementing a global network of service and support.

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

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. You can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “can,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “poised,” “continue,” “ongoing” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, but not all forward-looking statements will contain these words. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the potential functionality and performance of Nautilus’ product platform, its potential impact on pharmaceutical development and drug discovery, and market opportunities available to Nautilus or Abcam generally. These statements are based on numerous assumptions concerning the collaboration between Abcam and Nautilus including but not limited to expectations as to the success of that collaboration, expectations regarding the ability of that collaboration to enhance and/or accelerate Nautilus’ development efforts and to enable Nautilus to meet long term reagent supply needs, and expectations regarding the development of Nautilus’ products and target markets, generally, and involve substantial risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievement to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. We cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this press release or the assumptions upon which they are based will prove to be accurate. Risks and uncertainties that could materially affect the accuracy and outcome of Nautilus’ and Abcam’s assumptions and its ability to achieve the forward-looking statements set forth in this press release include (without limitation) the following: Nautilus’ product platform is not yet commercially available and remains subject to significant scientific and technical development, which is inherently challenging and difficult to predict, particularly with respect to highly novel and complex products such as those being developed by Nautilus. Even if Nautilus’ development efforts are successful, the product platform will require substantial validation of its functionality and utility in life science research. In the course of Nautilus’ scientific and technical development and associated product validation and commercialization, Nautilus or Abcam may experience material delays as a result of unanticipated events. For a more detailed description of additional risks and uncertainties facing Nautilus and its development efforts, investors should refer to the Registration Statement on Form S-4 and related documents filed with the SEC. For a more detailed description of additional risks and uncertainties facing Abcam and its development and business strategy see the important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in Abcam's prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on 22 October 2020, which is on file with the SEC and is available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov, as such factors may be updated from time to time in Abcam's other filings with the SEC. The forward-looking statements in this press release are as of the date of this press release. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, Nautilus and Abcam disclaim any duty to update any forward-looking statements. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Media Contacts
Nautilus: Press@nautilus.bio

Abcam
External Communications Team

T: +44 (0)1223 696 000
E: external.comms@abcam.com