Absci, the Vancouver, Wash.-based biotech that provides drug and drug target discovery services to other companies, has opened a lab in New York City.
The company announced the opening of the Absci AI Research Lab in Manhattan’s Plaza District on Wednesday, saying that the space with panoramic views of Central Park is “designed to energize and inspire innovation.”
The AAIR Lab will build on the company’s recent breakthroughs in machine learning for in silico antibody lead optimization, as well as its announcement of its collaboration with NVIDIA. It will also advance Absci’s therapeutic protein design.
“We’re eager to tap into the deep talent pool in New York, the Northeast, and beyond, as we leverage game-changing technology to deliver better drugs to patients faster,” Sean McClain, founder and CEO of Absci, said in a statement. He called New York “one of the geographic hearts of AI research.”
McClain started Absci in 2011 in a basement lab in Portland, Ore., before moving to Vancouver. The company opened a new headquarters in that city in November, barely three months after going public in an IPO that valued the biotech at nearly $2 billion.
The 200-employee company has room to expand in Vancouver, with 77,400 square feet of new office and lab space and a 9,150 square foot courtyard.
