Gates Foundation Invests 4.4 Billion KRW in SK Bioscience's 'COVID-19 Vaccine'

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] SK Bioscience announced on the 18th that it will receive $3.6 million (approximately 4.4 billion KRW) in research and development funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine.

SK Bioscience plans to coordinate discussions on the use of the funds with CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), which is leading global COVID-19 vaccine research and development.

Based on its research and development (R&D) capabilities that have independently developed cell-cultured influenza vaccines, cervical cancer vaccines, and pediatric enteritis vaccines, as well as its commercial production capacity certified by GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), SK Bioscience expects to rapidly complete process development and preclinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine candidates and proceed to clinical trials.

First, in collaboration with a leading antigen design institute in the United States, SK Bioscience will utilize the funding to conduct process development and preclinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine. An SK Bioscience official stated, "Alongside the government-supported development of our own COVID-19 vaccine, we plan to secure various vaccine candidates with higher immunogenicity."

SK Bioscience will apply its three existing vaccine platform technologies to discover multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates and identify the optimal antigen to select as clinical candidates. These platforms have been applied to many vaccines developed previously, with long-term safety and immunogenicity proven in humans, which is advantageous for regulatory approval.

Ahn Jae-yong, CEO of SK Bioscience, said, "We are pleased to partner once again with the Gates Foundation following our pediatric enteritis and typhoid vaccines. Recognized for our world-class technology, we are committed to contributing to humanity by focusing our capabilities on developing a COVID-19 vaccine."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.