AbbVie is opening submissions for an award that will provide one Canadian biotech with free access to lab space and executive insights from the Big Pharma.
The most recent iteration of the program, dubbed the AbbVie Biotech Innovators Award, is in collaboration with adMare BioInnovations, a company helping to build out the life sciences innovation ecosystem in Canada.
The North Chicago-based pharma and Canadian biotech builder are putting out a call for applications from early-stage biotechs in Quebec working in AbbVie’s areas of focus: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, eye care and aesthetics. Submissions are open until Feb. 20, 2026, according to a Nov. 25 release.
The winner will receive access to lab and office space at the adMare Innovation Centre in Quebec for one year. AbbVie is funding the program and will also provide the selected startup with access to the pharma’s scientific and business leaders.
The program is designed to help boost innovation and grow the life sciences industry in Canada’s capital city, according to the partners.
This past spring, AbbVie presented the first Biotech Innovators Award to Neuropeutics, a Toronto biotech developing small molecules designed to prevent and reverse protein aggregation in neurodegenerative conditions. For that award, the pharma teamed up with the University of Toronto’s SpinUp.
“We have a passion for supporting patients who face serious and life-altering diseases, and we believe that together we can advance the science needed to improve patient outcomes,” an AbbVie spokesperson told Fierce Biotech in a written statement.
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AbbVie isn’t the only pharma investing in biotech R&D, with Eli Lilly recently announcing the planned opening of a new Gateway Labs site in Philadelphia. The pharma’s lab model provides certain biotechs with state-of-the-art lab space and tailored scientific engagement, and includes four U.S. sites and two international locations so far.