Expres2ion Biotech

Founded in 2010 by Charlotte Dyring, Wian de Jongh, and Martin Roland Jensen, ExpreS2ion Biotechnologies is a clinical-stage biotechnology company operating from Hørsholm, Denmark. The company is a subsidiary of ExpreS2ion Biotech Holding AB, which is publicly traded on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Stockholm. The firm's business model centers on its proprietary ExpreS2™ platform, a system based on Drosophila S2 insect cells designed for the efficient production of complex proteins necessary for vaccines and diagnostics. This platform serves both internal pipeline development and external partners, including research institutions and pharmaceutical companies, through service agreements and licensing.

ExpreS2ion's revenue is generated through its contract research services and milestone payments from licensing agreements. A significant part of its strategy involves developing its own pipeline of vaccine candidates. The company's lead asset is ES2B-C001, a therapeutic vaccine candidate for HER2-positive breast cancer. This vaccine combines the ExpreS2™ platform with a capsid virus-like particle (cVLP) technology from AdaptVac, a company in which ExpreS2ion holds a 34% stake. Preclinical studies have shown that ES2B-C001 can inhibit tumor growth and overcome resistance to current therapies. In August 2024, the company submitted a Clinical Trial Application to begin Phase I studies. The trial received approval in December 2024 to proceed in Austria.

The company gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic for its role in developing the ABNCoV2 vaccine in partnership with AdaptVac and out-licensing it to Bavarian Nordic. While the vaccine demonstrated strong and broad antibody levels in clinical trials, Bavarian Nordic ultimately saw no commercial opportunity for the current version, though the project served as a crucial phase III validation of ExpreS2ion's underlying technology. Beyond oncology, ExpreS2ion's pipeline includes clinical-stage malaria vaccine projects in collaboration with partners like the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India, as well as preclinical programs for influenza and cytomegalovirus (CMV). With its ExpreS2™ platform having successfully produced over 500 different proteins, the company continues to leverage this technology for both its internal development goals and collaborative partnerships.

Keywords: vaccine development, immunotherapy, ExpreS2 platform, protein expression, recombinant proteins, HER2-positive breast cancer, ES2B-C001, clinical-stage biotech, capsid virus-like particle, cVLP, AdaptVac, ABNCoV2, malaria vaccine, influenza vaccine, cytomegalovirus vaccine, oncology, infectious diseases, Drosophila S2 cells, biopharmaceutical, Nasdaq First North Growth Market