'COVID-19 Vaccine Effect' SK Bioscience, Q1 Sales Grow 5 Times (Comprehensive)

Operating Profit Turns Positive in Q1
Proprietary Vaccine to Begin Phase 3 as Early as July

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] SK Bioscience has succeeded in turning its operating profit positive in the first quarter, driven by the contract manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines. Sales also surged more than fivefold compared to the same period last year, achieving the highest quarterly sales record ever.

SK Bioscience announced on the 3rd that its operating profit for the first quarter of this year reached 53.7 billion KRW. During the same period, sales increased by 422.4% to 112.7 billion KRW. Net profit also improved from a loss of 5.8 billion KRW in the first quarter of last year to a profit of 41.9 billion KRW in the recent quarter.

The contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business for COVID-19 vaccines led to this strong performance. Service sales, which include contract manufacturing (CMO), CDMO, and COVID-19 vaccine distribution-related sales, surged from 1 billion KRW in the same period last year to 96.9 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year.

SK Bioscience is currently responsible for the CMO of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. It also signed a CDMO contract for the U.S. Novavax vaccine in August last year and is preparing for commercial production, including technology transfer. For the AstraZeneca vaccine, all volume contracts for this year have been completed, and commercial production and shipment were carried out in the first quarter.

SK Bioscience stated, "Discussions are ongoing regarding the possible extension of the AstraZeneca vaccine CMO contract," adding, "While there may be some changes in the Novavax CDMO volume, we expect to start generating significant revenue from the late second quarter or early third quarter."

Separately from contract manufacturing volumes, SK Bioscience is developing two COVID-19 vaccine candidates in-house. 'GBP510,' co-developed with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), is currently in clinical phases 1 and 2, while 'NBP2001,' developed independently with government support, is in phase 1 clinical trials. The company plans to select one of these candidates to enter phase 3 clinical trials within this year.

During the first-quarter earnings conference call, SK Bioscience said, "Phases 1 and 2 clinical trials are underway, and since phase 3 will be significantly larger in scale, we are carefully considering the clinical design," adding, "We plan to start phase 3 clinical trials as early as mid-July." They also noted, "Safety-related data is expected to be partially available by mid-June."

Regarding the annual performance outlook, the company expects "profitability at the level of the first quarter to be maintained on an annual basis," but anticipates "quarterly variations depending on the delivery schedule of vaccine bulk substances."

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