(Reuters) - AbCellera Biologics said on Wednesday it will make a C$701 million ($515.6 million) co-investment with the governments of Canada and British Columbia to strengthen capabilities for drug development, manufacturing and clinical research in the country.

Over the next eight years, the company will invest C$401 million in the project, and the governments of Canada and British Columbia will contribute C$225 million and C$75 million, respectively.

The project is expected to create hundreds of new high-skilled jobs at AbCellera.

The company has previously partnered with Eli Lilly and Co to develop antibody therapies, including Lilly's experimental antibody treatments for COVID-19.

($1 = 1.3596 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Shounak Dasgupta)