CEO statement

From vision to action

It has been a true pleasure to join Ziccum at this intense stage of business-oriented action and help setting a sharper focus for the critical development needs and industrial partnering. The company has a very competent and dedicated team, and with a more precise focus we are taking great strides forward, both in the actual experimental work and in our partnering dialogues, creating value.

During the quarter a key strategic focus on three high potential vaccine platforms was defined. Ziccum is now prioritizing three key, high-potential vaccine platforms: adenovirus vaccine vectors, adjuvanted vaccines and mRNA vaccines using LNP delivery. All three platforms are used in major Covid-19 vaccines, and subject to intense development efforts in the pharmaceutical industry.

We also streamlined the project portfolio to three high-value ongoing feasibility studies corresponding to these platforms. Two are joint with leading pharma corporations, and one with an internationally leading vaccine research institute. I was delighted to help take these dialogues forward and to introduce new significant industry players to Ziccum. We were able to finish an important feasibility study and ship the pilot evaluation material to our key pharma collaborator, to now await the analysis and feedback.

Starting in this report we give a portfolio overview, to help the understanding of the overall status of our external projects. For these projects however, collaborating with pharmaceutical corporations, one needs to respect the decision-making of the counterpart and the demand for perfect confidentiality; in pharmaceutical development, every relevant project is subject to strict secrecy due to the large business potential. Hence, one must be very careful making public predictions or disclose any details.

Internally, we had a great range of technical improvements and installations made, including powder collection equipment and nitrogen gas usage, and we were most pleased to have the fourth generation LaminarPace units installed during the quarter. We also had the new cell lab installation nicely completed. Important decisions were taken regarding the development strategy, which resulted in selection of a new nebulizer partner, Tekceleo, which we expect to give a very efficient development project like communicated. We also took an important decision to partner with the ZHAW Institute in Zurich, Switzerland to consider LaminarPace 3D modelling and jointly apply for a Eurostars grant.

The sharpened company focus and elimination of non-strategic activities provide better clarity for our hard-working team, which boosted energy and efforts. We also had the pleasure of moving into new office and lab facilities, creating a good setting for the work ahead.

All in all, we had a very intense quarter. I want to thank Frida Hjelmberg for her good contributions as interim CEO, and I am most grateful for the efforts by Chairman Fredrik Sjövall, initiating the new company focus and enabling a smooth CEO transition. We jointly want to thank our collaborators, partners and owners for excellent interaction and support.

Lund, August 23, 2022

Ann Gidner, CEO