Ackermans & van Haaren : invests in AstriVax

ACKERMANS & VAN HAAREN INVESTS IN ASTRIVAX

PRESS RELEASE

ANTWERP

AUGUST 25, 2022, 7.00

Regulated information within the meaning of the Royal Decree of November 14, 2007.

Antwerp, August 25, 2022

Ackermans & van Haaren invests in AstriVax

Today, Ackermans & van Haaren is announcing its investment in AstriVax, a spin-off from the KU Leuven Rega Institute. The company is closing 30 million euros capital round. Over time AvH will gain a 7.7% shareholding of AstriVax. The company will draw on technology developed at the KU Leuven Rega Institute to develop novel vaccines that are easy to produce, have reduced cold chain requirements, and offer broad and long-lasting protection against various viruses and other pathogens.

The funding round was led by V-Bio Ventures and Fund+. The other investors are Flanders Future TechFund, Thuja Capital, Ackermans & van Haaren, Mérieux Equity Partners (via OMX Europe Venture Fund), BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity and the KU Leuven Gemma Frisius Fund.

AstriVax will use the seed capital to bring their first thermostable yellow fever vaccine to the clinical development stage and to further develop their pipeline vaccine candidates, one to prevent rabies and one to treat chronic hepatitis B.

The company will also continue to build its highly innovative, first-in-classplug-and-play vaccine platform based on the ground-breaking work of co-founders Professor Johan Neyts and Kai Dallmeier, PhD, from the KU Leuven Rega Institute. The versatile technology of AstriVax can be used to develop a wide range of vaccines to prevent and treat infectious diseases. AstriVax aims to address major challenges in vaccinology, such as the duration of protection and the ease of production. As the vaccines will no longer require a strict cold chain, getting them from the factory to patients will be easier, even in tropical and subtropical regions.

Hanne Callewaert, PhD, will lead the company as CEO. She has over 15 years of experience in the life sciences industry, including several leadership positions in companies such as GSK Vaccines and Oxurion. She said: "I feel privileged to work with the world- renowned team of Professor Johan Neyts and Kai Dallmeier to spin out this vaccine platform technology that holds such broad potential in addressing unmet medical needs. Being funded and supported by a strong consortium of investors will bring AstriVax's technology into clinical validation. I see this as a strong confirmation of the confidence in the potential of the technology, team, and collaborations."

Professor Johan Neyts (KU Leuven), co-founder, said: "After more than ten years of hard work and dedication, our academic team has developed and refined a novel, potent, and versatile vaccine approach. Kai Dallmeier and I are thrilled that AstriVax will bring our revolutionary vaccine technology to clinical development. This will significantly increase the number of people we can protect and treat against dreadful infectious diseases on all continents. We are also excited to work with CEO Hanne Callewaert, with the support of an enthusiastic and experienced consortium of investors and advice from authorities in the field."

Piet Dejonghe, co-CEO of AvH commented: "A dynamic life science ecosystem has developed in Belgium and the broader region. We are actively looking at investment opportunities in this field. As a long-term investor, we aim to support excellent management teams that translate innovative research into successful platform companies. The inventions done by Prof. Johan Neyts and Kai Dallmeier, PhD, have the potential of becoming a new and disruptive vaccine modality and we wish CEO Hanne Callewaert the best of luck with bringing these much needed and ground-breaking products to the market."

Ackermans & van Haaren positions itself as the long-term partner of choice of family businesses and management teams to help build high- performing market leaders and contribute to a more sustainable world.

Ackermans & van Haaren is a diversified group operating in 4 core sectors: Marine Engineering & Contracting (DEME, one of the largest dredging companies in the world - CFE, a construction group with headquarters in Belgium), Private Banking (Delen Private Bank, one of the largest independent private asset managers in Belgium, and asset manager JM Finn in the UK - Bank Van Breda, niche bank for entrepreneurs and the liberal professions in Belgium), Real Estate & Senior Care (Nextensa, a listed integrated real estate group) and Energy & Resources (SIPEF, an agro-industrial group in tropical agriculture).

At an economic level, the AvH group represented in 2021 a turnover of

6.0 billion euros and employed 22,563 people through its share in the participations. AvH is listed on Euronext Brussels and is included in the BEL20 index and the European DJ Stoxx 600 index.

Website

All press releases issued by AvH and its most important group companies as well as the 'Investor Presentation' can also be consulted on the AvH website: www.avh.be. Anyone who is interested to receive the press releases via email has to register to this website.

Financial calendar

August 31, 2022	Half-year results	2022
November 23, 2022	Interim statement Q3	2022

Contact

For further information	John-Eric Bertrand	Piet Dejonghe	Tom Bamelis
please contact:	co-CEO	co-CEO	CFO
e-mail: [e-mail]	Tel. [phone]	Tel. [phone]	Tel. [phone]

Ackermans & van Haaren NV - Begijnenvest 113 - 2000 Antwerp - Tel. [phone] - [e-mail] - www.avh.be