Danish biotechnology company focused on vaccines (Bavarian Nordic A/S, CVR 16271187, Philip Heymans Allé 3, 2900 Hellerup; Nasdaq Copenhagen: BAVA), best known for its non-replicating smallpox and mpox vaccine, sold as Imvanex in the EU and Jynneos in the United States, and for the travel vaccines Rabipur/RabAvert, Encepur, Vivotif, Vaxchora and the chikungunya vaccine Vimkunya; it reported DKK 7.06 billion of revenue in 2023 and employs about 1,085 people in Denmark according to the CVR register. Its Portuguese subsidiary, Bavarian Nordic Portugal, Lda (NIF 514766760), is registered at Rua Abranches Ferrão 10, 8º E, 1600-001 Lisboa, with accounts filed for 2018–2024, and the group was one of six suppliers awarded in the Madeira health service’s 2024 national-vaccination-programme procurement.
Bavarian Nordic built its business on MVA-BN, a modified vaccinia Ankara virus that cannot replicate in human cells and therefore avoids the severe side effects of older smallpox vaccines; approved as Imvanex in the EU, Jynneos in the United States and Imvamune in Canada, it was stockpiled by the US government and became the vaccine of the 2022 mpox emergency. The company has since used its cash to buy a commercial travel-vaccine portfolio — Rabipur/RabAvert against rabies and Encepur against tick-borne encephalitis, followed by Vivotif and Vaxchora — and to launch Vimkunya against chikungunya, giving it a sales organisation across Europe. It is headquartered in Hellerup, manufactures in Kvistgård north of Copenhagen and near Bern, and runs research in Martinsried outside Munich. Revenue was DKK 7.06 billion in 2023 with 1,379 employees; the Danish register lists 1,085 employees today. A takeover by Permira and Nordic Capital, agreed in July 2025 at about US$3 billion, failed in November 2025 when shareholders declined to tender enough shares.
The Portuguese presence is a small commercial affiliate. Bavarian Nordic Portugal, Lda (NIF 514766760) was set up with €500 of share capital and has filed accounts every year from 2018 to 2024 from its Lisbon office at Rua Abranches Ferrão 10, 8º E, in the Laranjeiras district. Its business is the registration, tendering and distribution of the group’s vaccines to Portuguese health authorities and travel clinics; in December 2024 the Madeira regional health service, SESARAM, listed Bavarian Nordic A/S among the six suppliers awarded in its procurement of vaccines for the national vaccination programme (procedure BEAD20240009, €1,175,588 in total across suppliers).
Bavarian Nordic is one of several Danish pharmaceutical groups with a Lisbon affiliate in the directory, alongside Novo, LEO Pharma and Lundbeck, and its route into the Portuguese market — a lightly capitalised Lda that bids into regional health-service tenders — is the model most Nordic specialty-pharma companies follow in Portugal. With Portuguese demand for rabies and other travel vaccines rising with outbound travel, the affiliate’s tender activity is a useful indicator of how Nordic pharma reads the Portuguese public-procurement market.
November 2025 — Recommended takeover by Permira and Nordic Capital, agreed in July 2025 at about US$3 billion, lapses after failing to reach the required shareholder acceptance level.
4 December 2024 — Madeira’s SESARAM publishes the award of its 2024 national-vaccination-programme procurement, naming Bavarian Nordic A/S among six suppliers (TED 740934-2024).
Fractio helps Nordic companies enter the Portuguese market — from market sizing to first sales, hiring, and legal setup.
Talk to Fractio →