Congratulations to Jonathan Milner, winner of CiteAb’s Lifetime achievement award

Abcam’s founder has won the CiteAb lifetime achievement award.

This award recognises and promotes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the research antibody industry. Jonathan founded Abcam after becoming frustrated by the lack of high quality antibodies available. He wanted to provide researchers with the products and services that he needed while working as a researcher.

Jonathan’s vision enabled Abcam to become a leader in the field, influencing the work of hundreds of life scientists globally to achieve their mission faster.

Dr Andrew Chalmers, Founder of CiteAb said “…Dr Jonathan Milner certainly created a ground-breaking business with Abcam, but has since worked tirelessly investing his own time and funds in taking life science research forward…”

Abcam also won awards in the following CiteAb categories:

  • Company succeeding in Stem Cell research
  • Company succeeding in Neuroscience research

AxioMx, (an Abcam Company) also won the Custom Antibody Supplier award.

Find out more about the CiteAb awards: http://www.citeab.com/awards

Abcam offers direct service to Singapore as part of deepening commitment to Asia-Pacific researchers

Cambridge, UK, 12 November 2015: Abcam plc, a global leader in the supply of life science research tools, announced today the launch of its direct service to Singapore, as part of a global commitment to support local researchers’ needs. The new Singapore service will provide direct technical support and customer services, expanding Abcam’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

This service brings Abcam products one step closer to researchers in Singapore, with fast and direct delivery. In addition, it will strengthen existing relationships and promote further collaborations with top-tier research institutions and companies in the region. Going forward, customers will be able to purchase products from the Abcam website in Singaporean currency.

Abcam’s active collaborations in Singapore include an exclusive partnership with the A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB). Announced in January 2015, this partnership is to develop a range of RabMAb® antibody pairs for the development of immunoassays for life scientists working in both research and in diagnostics.

Alan Hirzel, CEO, said “We are committed to listening to customers’ needs and ensuring that they have direct access to the highest quality life sciences research reagents and tools. This presence on-the-ground in Singapore is the next step in our global growth strategy. We are now providing faster, more efficient and effective local customer and technical support to the thriving Singapore R&D community and actively establishing further collaborations and partnerships within the local life science industry.”

As part of Abcam’s global initiative to improve local service and delivery, for the first time customers will be able to purchase Abcam products in Singaporean dollars and can order online at https://www.abcam.com or email sg.orders@abcam.com for more details.

Contacts:

Abcam
Francesca Axe
T: +44 (0) 1223 696000

Media enquiries
Dr. Lynne Trowbridge / Tim Watson
Instinctif Partners
T: +44 (0)20 7457 2861 / +44 (0)20 7866 7861
E: abcam@instinctif.com

About Abcam

Abcam plc is a global leader in the supply of life science research tools, with a wide range of products and expert technical support, enabling scientists to analyse living cells at the molecular level and to improve the understanding of health and disease.

Abcam is committed to providing scientists with an extensive choice of reagents and tools, with the most comprehensive, honest and up-to-date datasheets and customer reviews, fast delivery and helpful customer service & technical support. The Company’s catalogue evolves with scientific research trends and is growing each year to provide customers with products to meet their research needs. The range now includes primary and secondary antibodies, proteins, peptides, lysates, biochemicals, immunoassays and other kits. Abcam also supports its customers by hosting a range of global scientific events, forums and webinars, providing opportunities for scientists to get together and present their work.
Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, Abcam has nine global subsidiary offices enabling local services and multi-language support to over 100 countries. The Company was founded in 1998, and now employs over 820 people. Abcam was admitted to AIM in 2005 (AIM: ABC).

Visit Abcam to find out more

Abcam’s new anti-PD-L1 antibody enables deeper insights into cancer immunology research

  • Clone 28-8 provides researchers with knockout validated antibody to critical checkpoint inhibitor

Cambridge, UK, 06 October 2015: Abcam plc, a global leader in the supply of life sciences research tools, today announced the launch of its anti-PD-L1 primary antibody (clone 28-8). Produced using Abcam’s RabMAb® recombinant monoclonal antibody technology, the clone offers highly specific and reproducible antigen recognition to a checkpoint inhibitor critical to current cancer immunology research.

Programmed-death ligand 1 (PD-L1), also known as CD274 and B7-H1, can be expressed on the surface of tumour cells and binds to PD-1 receptors found on T-cells. This mechanism is used by tumour cells to evade detection and removal by the immune system. Abcam’s highly specific anti-PD-L1 clone (clone 28-8) has been knockout validated and tested in key applications such as Immunohistochemisty (IHC)1 and Flow Cytometry providing researchers with trusted data and ensuring the accuracy of their results. Developed through a research collaboration with a major pharma company, the PD-L1 antibody will give researchers a high quality tool to further explore the role of PD-L1 in disease progression and treatment. An IHC assay using clone 28-8 has been used to determine PD-L1 expression in clinical trials. Aside from cancer immunology, PD-L1 has also been implicated as having a role in autoimmune diseases and neurological disease.

Abcam is planning further industry partnerships, applying its RabMAb primary antibody technology to make emerging biomarkers available for major disease areas for both research and diagnostic purposes, including other checkpoint inhibitors. RabMAb primary antibodies offer researchers the sensitivity of the rabbit immune system combined with the specificity and consistency of monoclonal antibodies.

Alan Hirzel, CEO of Abcam, said “We want to make specialised, validated reagents, with a translational focus, available for basic research. Collaborating with leading pharmaceutical companies to develop antibodies to critical biomarkers is one important part of this strategy.”

“Our industry partners are working in disease areas with high unmet need, so we are ideally placed to combine their specialist understanding with our novel RabMAb technology to make clones accessible to researchers. In fact, our anti-PD-L1 antibody is highly cited in the market particularly for immunohistochemistry.”

The PD-L1 RabMAb antibody (clone 28-8, Ab205921) antibody can now be purchased from Abcam globally. To find out more, visit https://www.abcam.com/pdl1

  1. Phillips, T., et al., 2015. Development of an automated PD-L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay for non–small cell lung cancer. Applied Immunohistochemistry & Molecular Morphology. 23(8), pp 541-9.

Contacts:

Abcam
Francesca Axe
T: +44 (0) 1223 696000

Media enquiries
Dr. Lynne Trowbridge / Tim Watson
Instinctif Partners
T: +44 (0)20 7457 2861 / +44 (0)20 7866 7861
E: abcam@instinctif.com

About Abcam

Abcam plc is a global leader in the supply of life science research tools, with a wide range of products and expert technical support, enabling scientists to analyse living cells at the molecular level and to improve the understanding of health and disease.

Abcam is committed to providing scientists with an extensive choice of reagents and tools, with the most comprehensive, honest and up-to-date datasheets and customer reviews, fast delivery and helpful customer service & technical support. The Company’s catalogue evolves with scientific research trends and is growing each year to provide customers with products to meet their research needs. The range now includes primary and secondary antibodies, proteins, peptides, lysates, biochemicals, immunoassays and other kits. Abcam also supports its customers by hosting a range of global scientific events, forums and webinars, providing opportunities for scientists to get together and present their work.

Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, Abcam has nine global subsidiary offices enabling local services and multi-language support to over 100 countries. The Company was founded in 1998, and now employs over 800 people. Abcam was admitted to AIM in 2005 (AIM: ABC).

Visit Abcam to find out more

Abcam raises antibody validation standards to improve quality for life science researchers

Cambridge UK, 9 September 2015 – Abcam plc, a global leader in the supply of life science research tools, today announced an industry-changing antibody validation initiative to address the critical need for antibodies with a higher target specificity.

A recent article by Nature identified that around 50% of budgets for protein-binding reagents are wasted globally due to non-specific and inconsistent antibodies1. To advance the identification of precision antibodies, Abcam is raising the standard in the industry by providing knockout-validated antibodies on an unprecedented scale. The Company’s commitment to improving validation standards means that a higher price will not be charged for these products. The initiative also enables researchers, who previously would have undertaken their own knockout validation, to benefit from significant time and cost efficiencies. Many of the antibodies that will receive this validation will be recombinant monoclonal antibodies, addressing both specificity and consistency demands of life science research.

Knockout validation involves using knockout cell lines which do not express the target protein of interest; therefore providing a true negative control2. Abcam has exclusive rights to precision knockout validation technology from Horizon Discovery Group plc to ensure that antibodies are highly specific to the intended protein target, providing researchers with trusted data that enables them to confidently select the right product and ensure the accuracy of their results.

Alan Hirzel, CEO, Abcam, said: “We always strive to provide the highest quality product and relevant supporting data. Our decision to validate antibodies with these exclusive knockout cell lines means we can give researchers an enhanced level of confidence that they are using the highest specificity products. Our hope is these changes will put more money back into advancing the research missions of our life science customers.”

“We’re starting to use knockout based validation today with widely-used antibodies, and our ambition is for this to apply across our whole catalogue. By using the latest knockout validated technology, validation on this scale is now an achievable goal.”

Knockout validated antibodies can now be purchased from Abcam globally.

To find out more, visit https://https://www.abcam.com/knockoutvalidated

  1. (1) Bradbury, A. and Plückthorn, A. 2015. Reproducibility: Standardize antibodies used in research. Nature. 518(7537), pp.27-29.
  2. (2) Validation data and associated images can be found on the website. Higher-resolution images are available upon request.

Contacts:

Abcam
Francesca Axe
T: +44 (0) 1223 696000

Media enquiries
Dr. Lynne Trowbridge / Tim Watson
Instinctif Partners
T: +44 (0)20 7457 2861 / +44 (0)20 7866 7861
E: abcam@instinctif.com

About Abcam

Abcam plc is a global leader in the supply of life science research tools, with a wide range of products and expert technical support, enabling scientists to analyse living cells at the molecular level and to improve the understanding of health and disease.

Abcam is committed to providing scientists with an extensive choice of reagents and tools, with the most comprehensive, honest and up-to-date datasheets and customer reviews, fast delivery and helpful customer service & technical support. The Company’s catalogue evolves with scientific research trends and is growing each year to provide customers with products to meet their research needs. The range now includes primary and secondary antibodies, proteins, peptides, lysates, biochemicals, immunoassays and other kits. Abcam also supports its customers by hosting a range of global scientific events, forums and webinars, providing opportunities for scientists to get together and present their work.

Headquartered in Cambridge, UK, Abcam has nine global subsidiary offices enabling local services and multi-language support to over 100 countries. The Company was founded in 1998, and now employs over 800 people. Abcam was admitted to AIM in 2005 (AIM: ABC).

Visit Abcam to find out more

Appointment of Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary

Cambridge, UK, June 29, 2015:Abcam plc., a global leader in the supply of life science research tools, announces that it has appointed Suzanne Smith in the new role of Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary, based at Abcam’s headquarters in Cambridge, UK, effective from 6 July 2015. Accordingly, Jeff Iliffe will resign from the role of Company Secretary with effect from the same date.

Suzanne will take responsibility for Abcam’s licensing, legal, compliance and company secretary activities. The new role has been created in order to help Abcam achieve its global growth objectives, supporting the Company’s partnership and acquisition goals.

Suzanne brings a wealth of experience to Abcam with 20 years’ global legal, business and leadership experience within the life science industry. She previously held the role of executive director, legal at Actavis plc, where she had responsibility for the leadership of the legal function internationally. Her prior roles include legal director at Genzyme Therapeutics Ltd, general counsel at Phoqus Pharmaceuticals plc and group legal counsel and company secretary at LGC Ltd. Suzanne is a qualified solicitor and holds an LLB law degree from the University of Exeter and an MBA from the Open University.

“We are delighted to welcome Suzanne to Abcam’s leadership team. Suzanne’s knowledge and experience within the life sciences industry will be a valuable asset to our company.”

– Alan Hirzel, CEO, Abcam

Abcam launches multiplex miRNA profiling assays

  • Assays use innovative Firefly™ particle technology to enhance miRNA research

Cambridge UK, June 10, 2015: Abcam plc, a global leader in the supply of life science research tools, announced today the launch of a range of multiplex miRNA profiling assays for high-throughput validation of miRNA biomarkers, based on Abcam’s new Firefly™ particle technology.

The new Multiplex Cellular miRNA Assay and Multiplex Circulating miRNA Assay allow researchers to rapidly and cost-effectively profile up to 68 miRNAs in each well of a 96-well plate, with readout on a standard flow cytometer. These assays offer an easier workflow for larger sample numbers compared to alternative methods such as qPCR, microarray and sequencing, which can be resource intensive or require challenging data analysis.

The Multiplex Circulating miRNA assay enables profiling of miRNAs from small volumes of crude biofluids including serum and plasma, with no need for RNA purification, while the Multiplex Cellular miRNA Assay is optimized to work with purified RNA. The Multiplex Circulating miRNA Assay is particularly suited for studies targeting low-abundance miRNAs or where the amount of each sample is limiting.

Customers can chose between fixed panels targeting specific disease areas or can customize their own panel. Abcam also offers a sample profiling service to enable researchers without in-house resources to obtain profiles with this technology. Analysis software provided by Abcam efficiently translates the raw data from the flow cytometer into a miRNA profile and does not require special bioinformatics expertise.

“We’re excited about the opportunities that Abcam’s Firefly particle technology will bring to global researchers undertaking miRNA research. We recognized a consumer need to enhance the tools available for miRNA research, and our new innovative assays provide a combination of performance, multiplexing, throughput, cost and ease of use not available from existing technologies.”

– Brian Taylor, Head of Kits and Assays, Abcam

The assays can be purchased from Abcam in the US and Europe and will be available globally in the course of 2015.

Find out more

Abcam signs exclusive partnership agreement with A*STAR’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology

  • Partnership to develop high-quality immunoassays for life science research

Cambridge UK, 8 January, 2015: Abcam plc, a global leader in the supply of life science research tools, announced today it has signed a partnership agreement with the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), a research institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore. Under the terms of the agreement, Abcam will develop a range of RabMAb® antibody pairs against targets jointly selected by IMCB and Abcam, to be used by both organisations in the development of immunoassays for life scientists working in both research and in diagnostics.

Combining the biological research expertise at IMCB with Abcam’s RabMAb technology will enable rapid production of antibody pairs with a high level of affinity, specificity and validation. This will include antibody pairs to some of the most important targets in cytokine research, and to exciting novel proteins. The first antibody pairs are expected to be completed by August 2015 and available to the research market later in the year. This project represents the beginning of a planned multi-year collaboration between IMCB and Abcam.

Alan Hirzel, CEO, Abcam, said: “We’re excited about the opportunities that this collaboration will bring to life scientists. We are global leaders in making high quality antibodies with our RabMAb technology. By continuing to establish important collaborations, we have the chance to extend our reach to new areas of research. IMCB’s unique R&D capabilities put us in an excellent position to quickly bring innovative immunoassays to global life science researchers, to accelerate the pace of scientific discoveries.”

Professor Wanjin Hong, Executive Director of IMCB, said: “We’re delighted to have signed this agreement. The collaboration will enable IMCB to use Abcam’s proven RabMAb technology and apply it in our R&D programs to advance future development and adoption of immunoassays in immunodiagnostics and therapeutics. In view of the significant R&D expertise and growing importance of the biologics industry in Singapore, this collaboration will help drive antibody discovery and development activities in the region. I am confident that A*STAR and the scientific community will benefit from this promising partnership.”

Sue Harris appointed as non-Executive Director on Abcam Board

  • Appointment further strengthens the Abcam Board

Cambridge, UK, December 12, 2014:Abcam plc., a leading provider of protein research tools is pleased to announce the appointment of Sue Harris as a non-Executive Director on the Abcam Board. Sue will join the Board with immediate effect and will Chair the Audit Committee.

A Chemist by training, Sue has over 30 years of financial and commercial experience. She began her career at Ford Motor Co. before moving to oil company Amerada Hess. Sue subsequently held senior executive roles at Marks & Spencer, across finance and latterly as Head of Corporate Development, and Standard Life where she led the process to float the company on the London Stock Exchange in 2006. She then joined Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) where she was Finance Director of respectively; Cheltenham and Gloucester; LBG’s Retail Bank; and LBG Group Finance; and latterly Group Audit Director.

Sue is a Member of the Audit and Assurance Council of the Financial Reporting Council and previously was a Non-Executive Director on the Board of St. James’s Place (representing LBG) and a Member of the Audit and Remuneration Committee of the British Bankers’ Association. She is Chair of Trustees for KCP Youth and during a ten year association with Mencap chaired both the Finance and Audit Committees. Sue has completed INSEAD’s Advanced Management Programme, is a Chartered Management Accountant and has a degree in Chemistry from Manchester University.

“I am delighted to welcome Sue to the Abcam Board. She brings a wealth of finance and commercial skills, which combined with her broad corporate experience and scientific background, make her an ideal person to further strengthen the Abcam Board at this exciting time in our journey.”

– Murray Hennessy, Chairman, Abcam

Abcam appoints Yvonne Chien as Chief Digital Officer

  • Abcam’s leadership team strengthened by new appointments

Cambridge, UK, December 12, 2014:Abcam plc., a global leader in the supply of protein research tools and services, announced today that it has appointed Yvonne Chien as Chief Digital Officer. The Company also announced today the appointment of Sue Harris as non-Executive Director to the Abcam Board, further strengthening Abcam’s leadership team.

Yvonne will be based at Abcam’s Headquarters in Cambridge, UK and will be responsible for the development of its innovative eCommerce and digital marketing platform. She will be replacing Ed Ralph, who has been appointed as Chief Marketing Officer at Axol Biosciences, and will join the Company on 8th January 2015.

Yvonne brings extensive digital marketing and brand experience to Abcam. She previously held the role of Senior Vice President of Marketing at Getty Images, where she was responsible for brand, digital, product and sales marketing globally across Getty Images and its portfolio of brands. Prior to joining Getty Images, Yvonne held senior marketing positions with various internet and tech companies, including Google, Bebo (previously owned by AOL), Siebel Systems (acquired by Oracle) and BrainJuicer.

Yvonne holds a BA in Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

“We are delighted to appoint Yvonne Chien and Sue Harris to the Senior Leadership Team and Board respectively. Both Yvonne and Sue complement Abcam’s existing exceptional talent, bringing a wealth of corporate and scientific experience to the roles. Their appointments will strengthen Abcam’s leadership team at an exciting time in our growth, helping us achieve our vision of becoming the brand most recommended by life science researchers.”

– Alan Hirzel, CEO, Abcam

Abcam wins ‘Best Use of Digital Media’ at Life Science Industry Awards

  • Awards recognize the world’s top performing life science suppliers

Cambridge, UK, November 19, 2014:Abcam plc., a leading provider of protein research tools and services, announced today that it has won the Life Science Industry Award for the ‘Best Use of Digital Media’. Hosted by Bioinformatics LLC, the awards were announced at a ceremony in Washington D.C. on November 18, in conjunction with the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting.

Abcam revolutionized the buying of antibodies through its innovative eCommerce platform. The Company continues to innovate through its digital channels to provide personalized, relevant content that anticipates consumer needs and enhances their experience and engagement.

Presented to the world’s top performing life science suppliers in 27 categories, the Life Science Industry Awards are recognized as a benchmark of excellence in the life science tools industry. Voted by an expert network of thousands of global scientists, The Science Advisory Board, the awards bring the voice of the customer into the voting process backed up by rigorous scoring methodology, bringing these awards the highest degree of integrity.

“We’re delighted to have been recognized for the ‘Best Use of Digital Media’ and nominated in a further six categories. Our consumer-driven digital marketing strategy means we stay at the forefront of consumer needs, to provide the best products and services to enable researchers to discover more.”

– Alan Hirzel, CEO, Abcam