Monkeypox begins spreading, with unusual transmission patterns; European countries consider purchasing vaccines.

As of May 20, 2022, the monkeypox virus had spread across Spain. According to the Ministry of Health, 21 confirmed cases had been reported in the Madrid region, with another 19 suspected cases awaiting confirmation. Enrique Ruiz Escudero, Minister of Health for the Madrid region, had already told the media that the virus would continue to spread over the coming days. Two days earlier, Spain’s Ministry of Health had issued an alert to all regional health authorities. Meanwhile, a health column in the newspaper El País reported that the virus had actually begun circulating in Madrid as early as April—though some health reports had been overlooked. Currently, officials are most concerned about vaccine availability. Amós García Rojas, President of the Spanish Association of Vaccinology, stated that equipment must be rapidly procured to ramp up vaccine production and curb the virus’s spread. Elena Andradas, head of Madrid’s Public Health Agency, told reporters she had already contacted Spain’s Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) to purchase vaccines—since Spain does not manufacture this vaccine domestically. The company currently drawing the most attention is Bavarian Nordic A/S, a Danish vaccine manufacturer. It produces a vaccine originally developed against human smallpox, which is also approved for preventing monkeypox infection in individuals aged 18 and older. The vaccine received approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2013 and from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2019. Unlike mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, the smallpox vaccine is an inactivated vaccine—and therefore may require several weeks to several months to prepare.

€2.1 billion: Two major private equity firms jointly acquire a rising vaccine star.

If all goes smoothly, the transaction is expected to close—including payment and share transfer—in Q4 2025. This is, in fact, a privatization deal. Upon completion, Innosera plans to initiate a mandatory squeeze-out and apply for delisting from Nasdaq Copenhagen, transforming Bavarian Nordic into a privately held, wholly owned company. The board of directors—excluding three founder-directors who recused themselves—unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the privatization offer, citing “a significant cash premium and reduced uncertainty arising from ongoing fluctuations in vaccine commercialization and capital markets.” Reportedly, Denmark’s largest public pension fund, ATP (holding 8.4% of shares), and the founding family’s holding company, Bavarian Holding (holding 11.7%), have signed irrevocable undertakings to accept the offer—representing approximately 20% of total shares. “The Brightest Biotech Star in Northern Europe” Originating from a Smallpox–Cowpox Project Bavarian Nordic’s origins trace back to a smallpox–cowpox research initiative launched in the 1990s by Denmark’s Statens Serum Institut (SSI) and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science at the University of Copenhagen. In 1994, SSI scientists Steen Kølsen and Ole Lund, together with venture capitalist Niels Fjordside, co-founded “Bavarian Nordic A/S”—a name inspired by the founders’ vacation destination: the Bavarian Forest in Germany and the Nordic Peninsula. Initially staffed by just 12 employees, the company rented a 500 m² laboratory in the outskirts of Copenhagen, focusing on optimizing the modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) virus as a vector for gene therapy and vaccines. Following the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq War in 2003, the U.S. Department of Defense urgently needed a safe smallpox vaccine. In 2005, the company signed a ten-year, $475 million contract with the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop the IMVAMUNE smallpox/monkeypox vaccine—the largest government contract in European biotechnology history at the time. Leveraging this contract, Bavarian Nordic secured a $55 million Series B financing round from J.P. Morgan and Danske Bank in December 2005, and launched its IPO planning the following year. On December 15, 2006, Bavarian Nordic successfully went public, pricing its shares at 58 DKK each and raising net proceeds of 730 million DKK (≈$120 million). On its first trading day, the stock closed at 78 DKK, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly 2 billion DKK—prompting media outlets to dub it “the brightest biotech star in Northern Europe.” As of this July, Bavarian Nordic employs approximately 1,300 people: 550 at its Danish headquarters, 300 at its German manufacturing facility, and 200 in its U.S. sales and medical affairs team. The company operates three GMP-compliant manufacturing plants—in Kvistgård (Denmark), Berlin (Germany), and Research Triangle Park (North Carolina, USA)—with a maximum annual production capacity of up to 200 million doses of lyophilized or liquid formulations. Buyer’s Commitment: An Additional $1.5 Billion Over the Next Five Years According to Evaluate Pharma’s report Vaccines & Infectious Disease 2025, the global human vaccine market was valued at approximately $68 billion in 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3% between 2020 and 2024—significantly outpacing overall pharmaceutical industry growth (5.1%).

Bavarian Nordic gets four-year contract for mpox and smallpox vaccine from UK government

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Bavarian Nordic secured a four-year supply contract with the UK government for its MVA-BN vaccine against mpox and smallpox. Deliveries include optional flexibility provisions, though the contract value remains undisclosed.

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Bavarian Nordic gets four-year contract for mpox and smallpox vaccine from UK government

Bavarian Nordic gets four-year contract for mpox and smallpox vaccine from UK government

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