Small Ball Biotech

Every time you're infected by bacteria or a virus, your immune system works to create treatments to defeat it. Molecularly unique to each person, these tiny cells, or antibodies, either destroy these invaders or mark them for other killer cells to track down. Carl Hansen, 46, is geeking out as he describes the process over Zoom. "We can make 100 trillion different antibodies," he exclaims. "The immune system is spectacular beyond description." If that sounds more like a college professor than the CEO of a $13 billion (market cap) biotech company, there's a reason: Hansen was one--until 2019, when he left to focus on Vancouver-based AbCellera Biologies, cofounded with fellow researchers from the University of British Columbia in 2012. "Universities are very good at testing new ideas and looking for which road might be effective," he says.