Vaccibody Becomes Nykode Therapeutics - a New Name and Identity to Signify a New Phase of Growth and Development

OSLO, Norway--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nykode Therapeutics (formerly Vaccibody^*)) (Euronext Growth (Oslo): VACC (ticker will soon be changed)), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of vaccines and novel immunotherapies, announced today that the Company is changing its name to reflect its exciting development and mark a milestone in our journey of growth and transformation. It acts as a visible symbol of a new phase of opportunity based on collaborations, internationalization, and future ambitions. And it conveys how we are truly starting to realize our vision of being a leading immunotherapy platform company, breaking down the boundaries of conventional drug design to unlock the future of medicine.

The Company’s new name is inspired by its Norwegian roots and links to our platform’s modularity. Nykode translates as ‘new code’, playing on the potential of our technology to generate novel codes and create innovative patient therapies.

Michael Engsig, CEO of Nykode Therapeutics: “Over the last few years, the Company has made significant steps forward. We have reported promising clinical data, continued to grow our pipeline and forged significant partnerships.” Michael Engsig added, “We continue our exciting transformation from a two-asset focused company to a fully-fledged platform biotech company. During the past year, we have increased the number of talented colleagues, made important additions to our senior management team, invested strategically, and expanded internationally. This positive evolution, combined with our future ambitions, inspired the need to revisit our brand.”

Agnete B. Fredriksen, Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer of Nykode Therapeutics, continued, “The challenge of changing our name was to consolidate everything we have achieved to date with our future plans to expand, and combine this into a powerful new brand.” Agnete B. Fredriksen added, “We have shown that we can generate novel molecules by combining multiple different genes or codes to generate new medicines with unique properties. We will build further on this know-how, driven by our guiding purpose to push the boundaries of human advancement by rethinking conventional drug design. We want to express how our platform’s intelligent modular design and tailored hyper targeting may deliver game-changing medicines for patients. This vision aims to create innovative therapies and continues to broaden our reach into multiple therapeutic areas, both with and without our partners. In essence, we believe that our new name, Nykode, uniquely captures our progress and possibilities.”

Read more about the journey and inspiration regarding our new name, logo, and visual identity on our new website, nykode.com.

^*) Vaccibody AS, which is changing its company name to Nykode Therapeutics AS, has called for an EGM on November 30, 2021, to vote for the approval of the change of its company name from Vaccibody AS to Nykode Therapeutics AS.

About Nykode Therapeutics

Nykode Therapeutics, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, dedicated to the discovery and development of vaccines and novel immunotherapies for the treatment cancer and infectious diseases. Nykode Therapeutics’ modular vaccine technology specifically targets antigens to Antigen Presenting Cells, which are essential for inducing rapid, strong and long-lasting antigen specific immune responses and elicit efficacious clinical responses.

Its lead product candidates are VB10.16, a therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of human papilloma virus 16 induced malignancies which is in Phase 2 for the treatment of cervical cancer; and VB10.NEO, a cancer neoantigen vaccine, which is exclusively out licensed to Genentech and is in Phase 1b for the treatment of locally advanced and metastatic tumours and Phase 1/2a for the treatment of melanoma, lung-, head and neck, renal-, and bladder cancer. Additionally, Nykode Therapeutics has initiated a Phase 1/2 trial in 2021 with its two next-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

The Company has collaborations with Roche, Genentech and Nektar Therapeutics within oncology, a multi-target collaboration with Regeneron within oncology and infectious diseases and collaborate with Adaptive Biotechnologies for COVID-19 T cell vaccine development.

Nykode Therapeutics’ shares are traded on Euronext Growth (Oslo), a trading platform operated by Euronext, the leading Pan-European market infrastructure. The ticker code is VACC (ticker will soon be changed). Further information about Nykode Therapeutics may be found at http://www.nykode.com

Forward-looking statements for Nykode Therapeutics

This announcement and any materials distributed in connection with this announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect the company’s current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of material factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

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