Description of the Registrants Securities

The following description of the capital stock of Absci Corporation (“us,” “our,” “we,” or the “Company”) is a summary of certain provisions of the securities that are registered under Section 12 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and does not purport to be complete. It is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, each of which are incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.3 is a part, and by applicable law. We encourage you to read our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our amended and restated bylaws, and the applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) carefully.

Our authorized capital stock consists of 500,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share, all of which are currently undesignated.

The holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock held of record for the election of directors and on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders. Except as described under “Anti-takeover effects of Delaware Law and provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws” below, a majority vote of the holders of common stock is generally required to take action under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws. Holders of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends ratably, if any, as may be declared by our board of directors out of legally available funds, subject to any preferential dividend rights of any preferred stock then outstanding. Upon our dissolution, liquidation or winding up, holders of our common stock are entitled to share ratably in our net assets legally available after the payment of all our debts and other liabilities, subject to the preferential rights of any preferred stock then outstanding. Holders of our common stock have no preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights and no sinking fund provisions are applicable to our common stock. The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future.

Our board of directors has the authority, without action by the stockholders, to designate and issue up to an aggregate of 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series. Our board of directors can designate the rights, preferences and privileges of the shares of each series and any of its qualifications, limitations or restrictions. Our board of directors may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of common stock. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible future financings and acquisitions and other corporate purposes could, under certain circumstances, have the effect of restricting dividends on our common stock, diluting the voting power of our common stock, impairing the liquidation rights of our common stock, or delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our Company, which might harm the market price of our common stock. See also “-Anti-takeover effects of Delaware Law and provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws-Provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws-Undesignated preferred stock” below.

Our board of directors will make any determination to issue such shares based on its judgment as to our Company’s best interests and the best interests of our stockholders. No shares of preferred stock are currently outstanding, and we have no current plans to issue any shares of preferred stock.

Pursuant to the terms of our investors’ rights agreement, dated as of October 19, 2020, with certain of our stockholders (the “investors’ rights agreement”), certain of our stockholders are entitled to rights with respect to the registration of their shares (which we refer to herein as “registrable securities”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The investors’ rights agreement includes demand registration rights, short-form registration rights and piggyback registration rights.

All fees, costs and expenses incurred in connection with registrations under the investors’ rights agreement will be borne by us, and all selling expenses, including underwriting discounts and selling commissions, will be borne by the holders of the shares being registered.

The holders of our registrable securities are entitled to demand registration rights. Under the terms of our investors’ rights agreement, we will be required, upon the request of holders of at least a majority of our outstanding registrable securities, to file a registration statement and use commercially reasonable efforts to effect the registration of these shares for public resale. We are required to effect up to two registrations pursuant to this provision of the investors’ rights agreement.

The holders of our registrable securities are also entitled to short form registration rights. Pursuant to our investors’ rights agreement, if we are eligible to file a registration statement on Form S-3, upon the request of holders of at least 20% of our outstanding registrable securities to sell registrable securities with an anticipated aggregate offering amount of at least $5.0 million net of certain expenses related to the offering, we will be required to use our commercially reasonable efforts to effect a registration of such shares. We are required to effect up to two registrations in any twelve-month period pursuant to this provision of the investors’ rights agreement.

The holders of our registrable securities are entitled to piggyback registration rights. If we register any of our securities either for our own account or for the account of other security holders, the holders of our outstanding registrable securities are entitled to include their shares in the registration. Subject to certain exceptions contained in the investors’ rights agreement, we and the underwriters may limit the number of shares included in the underwritten offering if the underwriters determine that marketing factors require a limitation of the number of shares to be underwritten.

Our investors’ rights agreement contains customary cross-indemnification provisions, under which we are obligated to indemnify holders of registrable securities in the event of material misstatements or omissions in the registration statement attributable to us, and they are obligated to indemnify us for material misstatements or omissions attributable to them.

We will pay the registration expenses, subject to certain limited exceptions contained in the investors’ rights agreement, of the holders of the shares registered pursuant to the demand, short form and piggyback registration rights described above, including the expenses of one counsel for the selling holders.

The registration rights granted under the investors’ rights agreement will terminate upon the earlier of (i) a deemed liquidation event, as defined in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or certain other events constituting a sale of the Company, (ii) at such time after our initial public offering when all registrable securities could be sold under Rule 144 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or a similar exemption without limitation during a three-month period without registration or (iii) the fifth anniversary of our initial public offering.

Certain provisions of the DGCL and of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another party from acquiring control of us. These provisions, which are summarized below, may discourage certain types of coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids and, as a consequence, they might also inhibit temporary fluctuations in the market price of our common stock that often result from actual or rumored hostile takeover attempts. These provisions are also designed in part to encourage anyone seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our board of directors. These provisions

might also have the effect of preventing changes in our management. It is possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that stockholders might otherwise deem to be in their best interests. However, we believe that the advantages gained by protecting our ability to negotiate with any unsolicited and potentially unfriendly acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging such proposals, including those priced above the then-current market value of our common stock, because, among other reasons, the negotiation of such proposals could improve their terms.

We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that this stockholder becomes an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. Under Section 203, a business combination between a corporation and an interested stockholder is prohibited unless it satisfies one of the following conditions:

•before the stockholder became interested, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

•upon consummation of the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding, shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers, and employee stock plans, in some instances, but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder; or

•at or after the time the stockholder became interested, the business combination was approved by our board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.

Section 203 defines a business combination to include:

•any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder;

•any sale, transfer, lease, pledge, exchange, mortgage or other disposition involving the interested stockholder of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation;

•subject to exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder;

•subject to exceptions, any transaction involving the corporation that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock of any class or series of the corporation beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; or

•the receipt by the interested stockholder of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits provided by or through the corporation.

In general, Section 203 defines an interested stockholder as any entity or person beneficially owning 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by the entity or person.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws include a number of provisions that may have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another party from acquiring control of us and encouraging persons considering unsolicited tender offers or other unilateral takeover proposals to negotiate with our board of directors rather than pursue non-negotiated takeover attempts. These provisions include the items described below.

Board composition and filling vacancies. In accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our board is divided into three classes serving staggered three-year terms, with one class being elected each year. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that directors may be removed only for cause and then only by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 75% of the shares then entitled to vote at an election of directors. Furthermore, any vacancy on our board of directors, however occurring, including a vacancy resulting from an increase in the size of our board, may only be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of our directors then in office even if less than a quorum.

No written consent of stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that all stockholder actions are required to be taken by a vote of the stockholders at an annual or special meeting, and that stockholders may not take any action by written consent in lieu of a meeting. This limit may lengthen the amount of

time required to take stockholder actions and would prevent the amendment of our amended and restated bylaws or removal of directors by our stockholder without holding a meeting of stockholders.

Meetings of stockholders. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that only a majority of the members of our board of directors then in office may call special meetings of stockholders and only those matters set forth in the notice of the special meeting may be considered or acted upon at a special meeting of stockholders. Our amended and restated bylaws limit the business that may be conducted at an annual meeting of stockholders to those matters properly brought before the meeting.

Advance notice requirements. Our amended and restated bylaws establish advance notice procedures with regard to stockholder proposals relating to the nomination of candidates for election as directors or new business to be brought before meetings of our stockholders. These procedures provide that notice of stockholder proposals must be timely given in writing to our corporate secretary prior to the meeting at which the action is to be taken. Generally, to be timely, notice must be received at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days or more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary date of the annual meeting for the preceding year. The notice must contain certain information specified in our amended and restated bylaws.

Amendment to amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws. As required by the DGCL, any amendment of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation must first be approved by a majority of our board of directors, and if required by law or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, must thereafter be approved by a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, and a majority of the outstanding shares of each class entitled to vote thereon as a class, except that the amendment of the provisions relating to stockholder action, directors, limitation of liability and the amendment of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation must be approved by not less than 75% of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, and not less than 75% of the outstanding shares of each class entitled to vote thereon as a class. Our amended and restated bylaws may be amended by the affirmative vote of a majority vote of the directors then in office, subject to any limitations set forth in the amended and restated bylaws; and may also be amended by the affirmative vote of at least 75% of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, or, if the board of directors recommends that the stockholders approve the amendment, by the affirmative vote of the majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote on the amendment, in each case voting together as a single class.

Undesignated preferred stock. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for authorized shares of preferred stock. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock may enable our board of directors to render more difficult, or to discourage, an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise. For example, if in the due exercise of its fiduciary obligations, our board of directors were to determine that a takeover proposal is not in the best interests of us or our stockholders, our board of directors could cause shares of preferred stock to be issued without stockholder approval in one or more private offerings or other transactions that might dilute the voting or other rights of the proposed acquirer or insurgent stockholder or stockholder group. In this regard, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation grants our board of directors’ broad power to establish the rights and preferences of authorized and unissued shares of preferred stock. The issuance of shares of preferred stock could decrease the amount of earnings and assets available for distribution to holders of shares of common stock. The issuance may also adversely affect the rights and powers, including voting rights, of these holders and may have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change in control of us.

Exclusive forum. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall be the sole and exclusive forum for any state law claims for: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of our Company, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors or officers to the Company or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against our Company arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, (iv) any action to interpret, apply, enforce, or determine the validity of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or (v) any action asserting a claim against our Company governed by the internal affairs doctrine. In addition, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternate forum, the U.S. federal district courts shall be the sole and exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The exclusive forum provisions described above will not apply to any causes of action arising under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Although our amended and restated bylaws contain the choice of forum provisions described above, it is possible that a court could rule that such provisions are inapplicable for a particular claim or action or that such provisions are unenforceable.

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A. The transfer agent and registrar’s address is 150 Royall Street, Canton, MA 02021.

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol “ABSI.”