Breaking Down PolyPeptide Group AG Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors

From its start in Malmö in 1952 to becoming a global peptide CDMO, PolyPeptide Group AG has built a compelling growth story-operating six GMP-certified facilities across Europe, the US and India and reporting EUR 336.8 million revenue in 2024 (up 5.1% year-on-year) alongside a dramatic turnaround to EUR 25.4 million EBITDA from a loss in 2023; ownership remains concentrated-PolyPeptide is a 55.47% subsidiary of Draupnir Holding B.V.-while 2025 milestones like ramping a large-scale SPPS plant in Braine-l'Alleud (driving a 24% revenue increase in H1 2025) and modular capacity doubling in Malmö underscore how its mix of SPPS/solution-phase technologies, automation, GMP compliance and long-term customer commitments translate directly into recurring CDMO revenues, strategic capacity spends and a mid-term target to materially scale profitability and market reach.

PolyPeptide Group AG (0AAJ.L): Intro

• Founded commercial peptide manufacturing in 1952 in Malmö, Sweden, marking an early entry into therapeutic peptide production.
• Over seven decades scaled from a single site to a global CDMO focused on peptide-based active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
• By 2024 operated six GMP-certified facilities across Europe, the United States and India, supporting clinical and commercial supply.
• 2024 - reported revenue of EUR 336.8 million (↑5.1% vs 2023) and EBITDA of EUR 25.4 million, a turnaround from an EBITDA loss of EUR 6.0 million in 2023.
• 2025 - ramped its large-scale SPPS facility in Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium; reported a 24% revenue increase in H1 2025 driven by that capacity expansion.
• September 2025 - completed a Malmö expansion milestone by installing pre-built modules that doubled SPPS capacity at that site to meet rising peptide demand.

• Publicly listed company under ticker 0AAJ.L (investor and market coverage available via the company investor channels).
• Operates as a specialist Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) for therapeutic peptides, serving biotech and pharma clients from development through commercial supply.

• Mission: enable peptide therapeutics by delivering scalable, regulatory-compliant peptide API manufacture and development support.
• Strategic priorities: expand SPPS large-scale capacity, maintain and expand GMP footprint, improve operational efficiency and margin recovery, and support clients' clinical-to-commercial transitions.

• Core technology: Solid‑Phase Peptide Synthesis (SPPS) for sequence-defined peptides; solution-phase and downstream processing for peptide purification and formulation support.
• Quality/regulatory: six GMP-certified manufacturing sites provide global supply redundancy and regulatory compliance for clinical and commercial APIs.
• Service model: end-to-end CDMO offerings - process development, scale-up, GMP manufacture, analytical testing and regulatory documentation support for peptide APIs.

• Manufacturing contracts: commercial supply agreements for marketed peptide drugs (recurring revenue tied to patient demand and contract terms).
• Development and clinical supply: fee-for-service income from process development, clinical-scale synthesis and regulatory support.
• Capacity-driven growth: new large-scale SPPS facilities (Braine-l'Alleud and Malmö expansion) increase commercial throughput and enable higher-margin long-term supply contracts.
• Geographic diversification: GMP sites in Europe, US and India reduce single-site risk and allow cross-border contracting with multinational clients.

PolyPeptide Group AG (0AAJ.L): History

• Ownership (as of June 30, 2025): Draupnir Holding B.V. holds 55.47% of PolyPeptide, indicating majority control and consolidated influence over strategic decisions.
• Ultimate control: Draupnir's ultimate parent is the Cryosphere Foundation (registered in Guernsey); Frederik Paulsen (Lausanne, Switzerland) is named as a beneficiary, reflecting a layered cross-border ownership structure.
• Governance update (April 2025 AGM): shareholders approved all Board proposals by large majorities, including the election of Jo LeCouilliard as a new independent director and the re-election of five incumbent directors.
• Implication: the AGM outcome reinforces continuity in governance while adding independent expertise, supporting financial structure and stakeholder confidence.

• How ownership affects strategy: majority stake (55.47%) enables Draupnir/Cryosphere to shape capital allocation, M&A appetite, and long-term R&D investments.
• Governance impact: the April 2025 AGM approvals-by wide margins-signal shareholder alignment with management's strategic plan and are likely to strengthen market perception and access to capital.

PolyPeptide Group AG (0AAJ.L): Ownership Structure

• Mission: To be the most innovative peptide CDMO, shaping the future of peptide drug manufacturing and contributing to the health of millions of patients worldwide.
• Core strategic pillars: operational and quality excellence, industrial-scale capabilities, rapid and flexible capacity expansion, and sustainability (green chemistry and process intensification).
• Clinical focus & customer support: partners across biotech and pharma for discovery through commercial supply, with strong capabilities in peptide pipeline support and scale‑up.

• Business model: Fee-for-service CDMO revenue from peptide API and finished product development, clinical and commercial manufacturing, and related services (analytical, formulation, fill/finish).
• Revenue drivers: Long-term supply agreements, capacity utilization, pipeline progression of client drugs, and expansion into adjacent services (e.g., ADC peptides, conjugates).
• Operational scale & sites: Multi-site global manufacturing footprint to serve regional regulatory requirements and reduce time-to-market for customers.

• Green chemistry & process intensification: Active investment in more efficient synthetic routes, solvent recovery, and waste reduction to lower environmental footprint and cost per kilo.
• Capacity strategy: Rapid, modular expansion capability to convert development wins into commercial supply; emphasis on balancing surge capacity for clinical programs and steady commercial volumes.
• Value to shareholders: Growth driven by structural demand for peptides, recurring manufacturing contracts, and margin improvement through scale and process improvements.

PolyPeptide Group AG (0AAJ.L): Mission and Values

• Global GMP network: six GMP-certified sites providing development, clinical and commercial manufacturing capacity across multiple geographies.
• End-to-end service model: analytical, formulation support, clinical supply, and commercial API production within one integrated CDMO framework.
• Customer collaboration: project teams embedded with clients to tailor process development, scale-up, and quality strategies.

• Solid-phase technologies: optimized for complex, multi-step sequences and rapid development cycles.
• Solution-phase technologies: used for cost-efficient manufacture of certain sequences and large-scale material.
• Analytical and QC platforms: robust impurity profiling, peptide mapping, and GMP batch release testing to meet regulatory expectations.

• Automation: robotics and automated synthesis workstations for improved consistency and operator safety.
• Process control: real-time monitoring, PAT, and MES integration to ensure batch-to-batch consistency.
• GMP compliance: dedicated QA/QC frameworks and regulatory support for global dossiers and inspections.

• Tailored solutions: alignment of process route (solid vs solution phase) to client value and timeline.
• Scalability: modular facilities and multi-site networks to mitigate single-site risk and support global supply.
• Quality-first approach: compliance and regulatory readiness built into program execution to support approvals and inspections.

PolyPeptide Group AG (0AAJ.L): How It Works

• Core offer: custom solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), liquid-phase peptide synthesis (LPPS) where applicable, peptide conjugation, formulation-ready API and supportive analytical/regulatory services.
• Service coverage: discovery/early development, process development, tech transfer, GMP manufacturing, release testing and regulatory dossier support (CMC).
• Customer base: innovator pharma and biotech, spanning small biotechs to large multinational pharmaceutical companies.

• Contract development and manufacturing revenue: fee-for-service income from development projects, scale-up campaigns and commercial GMP production runs.
• Recurring supply contracts: multi-year commercial supply agreements and supply forecasts that create predictable, recurring revenue streams.
• Capacity-driven growth: revenue uplift from commissioned capacity expansions and new site qualifications to serve larger commercial programs (notably GLP‑1 and other metabolic peptide franchises).
• Financial structuring: customer pre-payments, milestone payments and expanded credit facilities that improve working capital and fund capex while de‑risking projects.

• Large-scale SPPS facility in Belgium: purpose-built for high-throughput commercial peptide API production to serve GLP‑1 and other high-volume programs; expected to materially increase commercial throughput once fully qualified.
• Malmö expansion: additional GMP suites and analytical labs to reduce lead times and support simultaneous large-molecule projects; projected to raise total peptide API capacity by ~20-30% versus pre-expansion levels.
• Resulting revenue effect: new capacity supports conversion of development programs to commercial supply and enables capture of larger global tenders and multi-site supply agreements.

• Long-term supply agreements: many customers provide multi-year supply forecasts and purchase commitments, creating a visible revenue backlog.
• Milestone and progress billing: development milestones and staged manufacturing campaigns generate near-term cashflows before full commercial ramp.
• Customer concentration management: the company balances a relatively concentrated set of high-value customers with a broad pipeline of smaller biotech programs to mitigate single-customer risks.

• Working capital support: customer pre-payments and advance deposits reduce reliance on operating cash flow during large-scale project ramp-ups.
• Credit facilities: expanded revolving credit and term facilities (~€150m equivalent committed lines) provide liquidity for capex and inventory needs tied to long lead-time raw materials.
• Capex-to-sales philosophy: targeted capital investments focused on high-utilization, high-margin capacity (SPPS), aiming to preserve or improve adjusted EBITDA margins as sales scale.

PolyPeptide Group AG (0AAJ.L): How It Makes Money

• Commercial supply agreements for marketed peptide drugs (recurring, volume-driven revenue).
• Development and scale-up contracts (milestone and development fees).
• Clinical manufacturing and small-batch services (higher-margin, project-based work).
• Dedicated capacity projects and customer-funded expansions (service+capex partnerships).

• Target: double 2023 revenue by 2028 (≈ from CHF 603m to ~CHF 1.2bn) while driving EBITDA toward ~25% through scale, pricing, and efficiency.
• Planned mid-term capex intensity: 15-20% of revenue to secure capacity beyond 2028; many expansions executed jointly with anchor customers.
• Strategic priorities: innovation in peptide chemistry and formulation, operational excellence, and capacity expansion aligned with customer demand.

• High fixed-cost base and asset utilization: once capacity is filled, incremental volumes lift margins.
• Customer mix: long-term supply agreements for commercial products provide predictable revenue; development and clinical projects add higher-margin, shorter-duration revenue.
• Pricing power in specialized peptide chemistries and regulatory-compliant manufacturing (cGMP).

• Peptide therapeutics market growth (CAGR) in the high single digits to low double digits; GLP-1 market expanding faster (multi-year high-teens to 30%+ in certain segments).
• Capacity expansions coordinated with anchor customers reduce customer risk and accelerate revenue ramp.
• Maintaining capex at 15-20% of revenue to support doubling of sales while improving operational leverage to reach ~25% EBITDA.