The Vancouver-based company’s CEO Carl Hansen said Thiel “has been a valued AbCellera investor,” and that the company shares his vision. Thiel, who co-founded PayPal and Palantir, said AbCellera “is executing a long-term plan to make biotech move faster.” (The Logic)

Talking point: The controversial Thiel invested in AbCellera for the first time in its latest funding round in May, which totalled US$105 million, according to PitchBook. One of Silicon Valley’s most prominent investors, he’s made 137 investments, mostly in information technology, including in Stripe, Reddit and Luminar. He also sits on the boards of Facebook and Swiss-based automotive startup Piëch. Thiel’s addition to AbCellera’s board comes as the company, which is working on a possible coronavirus treatment with Eli Lilly, plans to announce an upcoming IPO on the Nasdaq, according to Bloomberg, that could come as soon as December. AbCellera was previously rumoured to be looking to raise $200 million to $300 million. It also added John Montalbano to its board, and announced Wednesday it acquired Trianni, a company that specializes in antibody-discovery technology using transgenic mice, in its largest acquisition to date, at US$90 million.