Carl Hansen left his career as a professor to found a $13 billion biotech company during the midst of a pandemic.
The pandemic has created a shift in lifestyle for a variety of billionaires. Carl Hansen took advantage of the unfortunate situation and launched a career change that would take him from the life of a university professor into the coveted role of pharmaceutical billionaire. As a result, Covid-19 would join the ranks of several other diseases that allow big pharma to profit.
Hansen was teaching physics and astronomy at the University of British Columbia up until 2019. He then left his job as a professor and ventured into the world of business, becoming CEO of the Vancouver-based AbCellera Biologics.
In an attempt to differ themselves from other biotech startups, Carl Hansen and his team of fellow professors focused on the process of discovery. AbCellera’s risky decision paid off just six months after going public, when AbCellera raised over $105 million from several different investors including the University of Minnesota, OrbiMed, and Peter Thiel.
Biotech startups are known for accruing a large amount of wealth over time. AbbVie, known for their immunosuppressive drug Humira, earned a net revenue of $19 billion in 2018. The pharmaceutical company Merck released the drug Keytruda which generated over $11.1 billion in revenue in 2019. Carl Hansen was soon to follow in the footsteps of these major biotech players when he began experimenting with antibodies related to the Covid-19 virus.
Tasked with the job of finding antibodies that met varying criteria, AbCellera worked with several other pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Novartis, and Lilly. This process of aiding immunity launched Hansen and AbCellera into the auspicious position of examining thousands of antibodies derived from patients diagnosed of Covid-19.
After discovering bamlanivimab, the 500 antibody sequence that could be used to fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus, AbCellera teamed up with Eli Lilly who contracted the company to produce 950,000 doses of the new drug for over $1.2 billion.
AbCellera is expected to receive over $270 million in royalties from their antibody discovery from future productions of the vaccine.
Hansen started 2019 earning the yearly salary of a modest professor at around $110,118 per year. When Hansen’s company went public in December of 2020, the company’s IPO increased his net worth to over $3.6 billion.
Prior to his work with AbCellera, Hansen earned his Bachelor’s of Applied Sciences from the University of Columbia. He then went on to earn his Doctorate in Philosophy related to applied physics and biotechnology from Caltech. Caltech is home to several other graduates and alumni who have made billions off of their investment decisions. One such alumni is Gordon Moore, the founder of Intel, who achieved a net worth of over $10.1 billion.
Carl Hansen began his career serving on the SAB of the Fluidigm Corporation before becoming both the Co-founder and Director of Resolution Diagnostics.
His notable work began in 2011 when after serving as Co-founder & Director of Precision NanoSystems, Inc., he became a Scientific Advisor for the company in October of 2015.
He then joined a team at the University of British Columbia when he served as a part of Michael Smith Laboratories. While working for the university, he conducted cross-disciplinary research aimed at the development of microfluidic technology for biomedical research.
In addition to his work in nanotechnology, Hansen is also an inventor. He has over 50 US patents and 63 US patent applications that are represented in 7 different commercial products.
With a primary focus on predicting and directing immune responses to create more effective vaccines, Hansen’s transition into working with some of the top pharmaceutical companies in an attempt to find a vaccine created a perfect match for Hansen to receive funding in return for research.
Hansen’s quick thinking and propensity for discovery placed him among some of the top biopharma CEO’s including John C. Martin of Gilead Sciences and Len Schleifer of Regeneron.
Hansen has joined the ranks of several other billionaires who have significantly increased their own wealth during the pandemic. Warren Buffet, known for his investment decisions, increased his net worth over $12.6 billion. Larry Page, co-founder of Google, had an increase of $15 billion. Elon Musk gained over $63.3 billion during the year long stretch, at one point making him the richest man in the world.
Carl Hansen’s success led not only to an abundance of wealth, but also landed him several awards and merits for his success. In 2020, he was named as one of the Top 5 Canadian CEO's who elevate their companies.
Outside of his professional work in the biopharmaceutical world, Hansen also maintains several hobbies and passions including running, cycling, history, and economics.