Evaxion Biotech A/S saw its shares surge more than 27% Thursday after announcing that Merck & Co. has exercised its option to license the Danish biotech's vaccine candidate EVX-B3. The Nasdaq-listed stock climbed to $4.20, gaining $0.79 from its previous close of $3.30, with trading volume spiking to 71.4 million shares—far exceeding its average volume of approximately 92,000 shares.

The licensing agreement includes a $7.5 million upfront payment to Evaxion, with potential development, regulatory and sales milestone payments reaching up to $592 million. Merck, known as MSD outside the United States, will also pay royalties on net sales and assume full responsibility for all future development costs of the preclinical vaccine candidate. The deal extends Evaxion's cash runway into the first half of 2027.

EVX-B3 targets an undisclosed pathogen associated with repeated infections, increasing incidence and serious medical complications. Both companies have maintained secrecy around the specific disease target, noting only that no vaccines currently exist for the condition. The candidate was discovered using Evaxion's AI-Immunology platform, which identifies novel targets that might otherwise remain undiscovered.

The collaboration represents a significant validation of Evaxion's technology platform, according to company executives. "This has significant financial value for us, but equally important is the massive validation of our AI-Immunology platform by MSD, the world leader in vaccine development and commercialization," said Birgitte Rønø, Evaxion's chief scientific officer and interim CEO. The companies have also extended the evaluation period for another vaccine candidate, EVX-B2, which targets gonorrhea, with a licensing decision expected in the first half of 2026.

Swedish prosecutors have charged four men aged 20 to 24 with robbery and assault in connection with three separate incidents that occurred in central Stockholm on August 27. The charges include allegations of unprovoked violent attacks with a hate crime motivation, according to court documents released by the Swedish Prosecution Authority.

The defendants are accused of robbing one individual and threatening that person's friend in Stockholm's city center, followed by what prosecutors describe as a severe assault against another person later the same night. Three of the men face additional charges for an assault that took place on the Stockholm metro system during the same evening. All victims in the three separate incidents were reported to have foreign backgrounds, though they had no connection to each other.

Prosecutor Gustav Andersson, who led the preliminary investigation, stated that surveillance footage and photographs show some of the defendants making Nazi salutes in connection with the alleged crimes. During house searches, authorities reportedly discovered materials and symbols indicating connections to right-wing extremism. The indictment specifically references the neo-Nazi and violence-promoting Aktivklubb movement as evidence of the motive behind the alleged offenses.

The Aktivklubb movement represents part of a larger international right-wing extremist network that outwardly focuses on strength training and martial arts. In Sweden, the movement gained traction in 2023 through the Aktivklubb Sverige network, which serves as an umbrella organization for local clubs. According to the Expo Foundation's 2024 annual report, five groups from Skåne to Hälsingland are part of Aktivklubb Sverige, with the number of registered activities increasing significantly last year.