CRO PolyTherics has changed its name to Abzena. The new company was created to provide a strong group identity across its two wholly owned subsidiaries, PolyTherics and Antitope, following their combination in July 2013.

PolyTherics' operations will move from London to the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge, the current site of Antitope's operations, and therefore Abzena's headquarters and major operations will be positioned in a cluster for biopharmaceutical innovation. It also will grow its operations on the Warwick University Science Park, where it maintains a presence following the acquisition of Warwick Effect Polymers by PolyTherics in January 2012.

John Burt, CEO of Abzena, said, "We believe there is a real opportunity for the company to capitalize on an increasing need for high-quality outsourced early stage R&D capabilities and for Abzena to become a leading provider within this global industry. In PolyTherics and Antitope we have well established, respected brands and a broad range of complementary services and technologies. Our new company and identity will allow us to better communicate our full strengths and meet the significant demand we have seen from existing and new customers and partners."

Abzena's services and proprietary technologies are aimed at helping partners identify or create better biopharmaceutical product candidates to advance toward and into clinical development. These services and technologies include immunogenicity assessment, protein engineering to create humanized antibodies and deimmunised therapeutic proteins, manufacturing cell line development, bioconjugation technologies for antibody drug conjugate development and novel polymers for enhancing the therapeutic properties of biopharmaceutical products.

Matthew Baker, chief scientific officer of Abzena and founder of Antitope, said, "While there will be no day-to-day changes for our existing customers and partners, we believe a new, combined identity provides a strong platform for further growth."