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Vipergen ApS
Gammel Kongevej 23A
1st floor
1610 Copenhagen
Denmark 

VAT: DK28851758

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About us

Vipergen is a world leading provider of small molecule drug discovery services based on DNA-encoded library (DEL) technologies.

Vipergen offers to current and future partners to discover hits/leads for their high value targets, using three proprietary 2nd and 3rd generation DEL technologies.

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Partnerships signed

120+

since 2015

Unique compounds in DELs

100M+

Small molecules

Technology platforms

3

exclusively owned

Markets

3

US, Europe & Japan

Our Story

When Dr. Nils Hansen founded Vipergen in Copenhagen in 2005, the challenge he set out to solve was fundamental: the hit identification step in drug discovery was slow, expensive, and routinely failing for a broad range of pharmaceutically relevant targets. Classical high-throughput screening required large compound collections, significant infrastructure, and still struggled with targets considered “undruggable.”

Vipergen was built around a different philosophy — that encoding chemical information directly into DNA could unlock a new scale of molecular exploration, one where billions of compounds could be tested in a single experiment. Over the following two decades, the company moved beyond first-generation DEL methods to develop its own second-generation platforms (yR and BTE) and ultimately a third-generation cellular platform (cBTE) that screens compounds directly inside living cells, placing Vipergen with an unique capability in the industry.

Today, Vipergen operates as an independent, privately owned company with a team of experienced medicinal chemists, biologists, and screening scientists. Our mission remains the same as it was at founding: to give drug discovery programs their best possible start by delivering validated, high-quality hits against the targets that matter most.

What is Vipergen?

Vipergen is a Copenhagen-based drug discovery company specializing in DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology, a method that enables the simultaneous screening of millions of small molecules against a biological target in a single experiment, dramatically accelerating the early stages of drug development. Founded in 2005 by Dr. Nils Hansen, Vipergen has developed three proprietary DEL platforms: YoctoReactor® (yR), Binder Trap Enrichment® (BTE), and Cellular Binder Trap Enrichment® (cBTE), that together cover both the synthesis of DELs along with in vitro and cellular screening contexts. These platforms are designed to find high-quality small molecule hits and leads for targets that are difficult or impossible to address with conventional screening methods, including protein-protein interactions, membrane proteins, and intrinsically disordered proteins. Vipergen works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide, from early-stage biotechs to global top-5 pharma, as a fee-for-service partner in hit and lead identification.

Meet The Vipergen Team

Allan Beck Christensen
Director, Screening Technologies
Amaya Alzu Farinas
Senior Technician
Andrzej Taranta
Senior Scientist
Asta Arpaci Dehn
Student Helper
Charlotte Andersen
Senior Scientist
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Frank Sløk
Head of Chemistry
Gustav Stærk
Student helper
Kristian Klint
Technician
Lars Petersen
Associate Director, Chemistry
Leif Kongskov Larsen
Director, Biology
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Lukas Bruun Nande
Student Helper
Nils Jakob Vest Hansen
CEO
Ole Kristensen
Senior Scientist
Peter Blakskjær
Senior Scientist
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Rico Gerup Petersen
Senior Scientist
Rozalia Korbut
Technician

Our Technology Platforms

YoctoReactor® (yR)

Is Vipergen’s second-generation DEL synthesis platform. It enables the construction of structurally complex, three-dimensional small molecule libraries using DNA-templated chemistry that yields DELs without truncates which is not possible with conventional DEL synthesis approaches. The result is libraries with higher structural diversity and better coverage of the chemical space relevant to challenging drug targets.

Binder Trap Enrichment® (BTE

Is Vipergen’s proprietary selection technology for in vitro DEL screening. Rather than relying on affinity-based pulldown alone, BTE uses a trap mechanism that significantly reduces background noise and enriches true binders with high specificity, thereby delivering cleaner data and more reliable hit identification, particularly for difficult targets.

Cellular Binder Trap Enrichment® (cBTE)

Is Vipergen’s third-generation platform and a unique capability in the DEL field globally. cBTE performs DEL selections directly in living cells, allowing compounds to be screened against targets near their native cellular environment. This means hits identified through cBTE are selected under physiologically relevant conditions from the outset, increasing the likelihood that they will translate into effective drug candidates.

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of companies does Vipergen work with?

Vipergen works with both large pharmaceutical companies and smaller biotechnology firms at any stage of development. Partnerships range from straightforward fee-for-service screening campaigns to longer-term collaborative arrangements.

What makes DEL technology better than traditional high-throughput screening (HTS)?

Traditional HTS screens one compound at a time against a target, requiring significant time, resources, and physical compound libraries typically capped at a few million molecules. DEL technology encodes millions to billions of compounds on DNA tags and screens them simultaneously in a single experiment, offering vastly greater chemical diversity at a fraction of the cost and timescale.

What target classes can Vipergen screen against?

Vipergen’s platforms are specifically designed to handle targets that are difficult for conventional methods — including protein-protein interactions, integral membrane proteins, transcription factors, and intrinsically disordered proteins — in addition to more established target classes like kinases, GPCRs, and ion channels.

Can Vipergen screen targets inside living cells?

Yes. Vipergen’s cBTE platform is designed specifically for cellular screening, allowing DEL campaigns to be run directly inside living cells. This is a unique capability in the DEL industry and is particularly valuable for targets where cell permeability, intracellular localization, or native protein conformation are critical factors.

Where is Vipergen located and how do I start a collaboration?

Vipergen is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. To explore a partnership or discuss a specific target, reach out via our contact page and our team typically responds within one business day.

Vipergen in brief

  • Vipergen is a small molecule drug discovery company – with focus on the hit/lead finding process
  • Vipergen introduces the YoctoReactor® (yR) and Binder Trap Enrichment® (BTE) – 2nd generation DNA-encoded small-molecule library technologies
  • Vipergen introduces the in cell Binder Trap Enrichment® (cBTE)  – 3rd generation technology (unique)
  • The yR, BTE and cBTE technology platforms are exclusively owned by Vipergen and secured by strong patent positions
  • The company is privately owned by Gunnar Kjems and Dr. Nils Hansen
  • Board members: Gunnar Kjems (chair) and Dr. Nils Hansen
  • Founded by CEO, Dr. Nils Hansen
  • Founded in 2005
  • Incorporated in Copenhagen, Denmark
  • In 2015-25 >120 deals signed, including with top-5 pharma in both US, EU, and Japan
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