Our Business

Business model

The Company focuses on a unique pipeline business model, while maintaining its legacy contract research activities.

The primary objective is to establish a distinctive and competitive pipeline of preventive and therapeutic vaccine products. The Company is diligently building a portfolio of preclinical and later-stage clinical biopharmaceutical drug and vaccine candidates. Initially, ExpreS2ion conducts its own research, preclinical, and early clinical development work (proof-of-concept) with an aim to maximise the value of out-licensing opportunities. For instance, an agreement was reached with Bavarian Nordic in 2020, wherein Bavarian Nordic assumed all future development costs for the COVID-19 vaccine programme in exchange for future milestone payments and royalties. Another collaborative effort is evident in the research collaboration agreement with Evaxion Biotech A/S, wherein research and patent costs are shared equally between the parties, focusing on a novel CMV vaccine candidate, which the Company will have first right to in-license.

Secondarily, the Company generates revenue through its Contract Research Organisation (CRO) in several ways:

  • Fee-for-service contract research and products related to recombinant protein expression.
  • Outlicensing the ExpreS2TM platform to research institutes and pharmaceutical companies engaged in biopharmaceutical drug and vaccine development.
  • Selling ExpreS2TM test kits and reagents for research purposes or diagnostic applications.

This part of the business model brings about short-term revenue from the CRO business, which involves offering recombinant protein development and manufacturing services within medical research development. The products developed using the Company's technology have the potential to generate future royalties, license fees, and milestone payments.

The Company firmly believes that prioritising an in-house pipeline of biopharmaceutical drug and vaccine candidates, along with strategic development collaborations while maintaining its CRO business, positions it favourably to generate revenue and create value for both the Company and its shareholders in the long term.

As of now, the Company's activities are focused on pharmaceutical development, and it has not engaged in sales of approved pharmaceuticals or medications developed in conjunction with a development partner.

Strategy and growth

ExpreS2ion aims to develop the pipeline of pharmaceutical candidates further by adding additional vaccine projects while continuing preclinical and early clinical development work on existing projects. The Company targets human Proof-of-Concept since successful studies, according to the Company, can maximize opportunities for qualitative partnerships and collaborations for further development. Partnering early in the process is also an option for progressing pipeline projects, by using a partner’s resources, which among others can be technology, knowledge, or financing. The Company also aims to improve the technology platform further to ensure competitiveness. This is done by improving the ExpreS2TM system, potentially adding relevant compatible vaccine technologies, and continuing to sell licenses for the use of the ExpreS2TM platform.

Group Structure

ExpreS2ion has a streamlined company structure. ExpreS2ion Biotech Holding AB is the Swedish entity listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market since 2016. ExpreS2ion Biotechnologies ApS is the operational entity, with offices and labs in the Scion DTU Science park 20 km north of Copenhagen, Denmark, and was established in 2010. AdaptVac ApS is a joint venture established in 2017 together with a group of scientists from the Institute of Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Copenhagen. The scientists own their share of AdaptVac through a joint holding company named NextGen Vaccines ApS.

AdaptVac Aps was formed in 2017 as a 50/50 joint venture between ExpreS2ion Biotechnologies ApS and NextGen Vaccines, a University of Copenhagen spin-out. The goal of the Joint Venture is to create a world class unit for the development of highly competitive vaccines and therapeutics against infectious diseases, cancer, and immunological disorders. The combination of ExpreS2ion’s proprietary insect cell expression technology, ExpreS2, and NextGen’s unique expertise in proprietary Virus-Like Particle (VLP) technology makes AdaptVac a strong and versatile player in the field of new vaccines and immune therapy. The Company’s ownership stake in AdaptVac was reduced from 50 percent to 34 percent in February of 2021 upon exercise of the option to in-license the breast cancer vaccine candidate AV001/Her2-cVLP.