SK Bioscience, 929 Billion KRW in Sales Last Year... Operating Profit Grows 1158%

SK Bioscience 'L House Vaccine Center' in Andong-si, Gyeongbuk (Photo by SK Bioscience)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] SK Bioscience continues its rapid growth, recording its highest performance since its founding with nearly 1 trillion KRW in annual sales.

SK Bioscience announced on the 7th that its operating (advantage) results for the fourth quarter of last year were sales of 450.858 billion KRW and operating profit of 253.944 billion KRW. Compared to the same period last year, these figures soared by 572.8% and 2227.2%, respectively. Net profit also grew by 1762.4%, reaching 183.966 billion KRW.

For the cumulative results of last year, sales reached 929.01 billion KRW, a 311.8% increase compared to 225.611 billion KRW the previous year, marking nearly 1 trillion KRW in annual sales. Operating profit surged by 1157.5% to 474.22 billion KRW, achieving an operating profit margin of 51%. Net profit also grew by 979.8% to 355.139 billion KRW. These results represent the highest performance since the company's founding in 2018.

SK Bioscience attributed this growth to orders for COVID-19 vaccine contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) and contract manufacturing organization (CMO) services. Until last year, SK Bioscience provided CMO services for AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccines in both bulk and finished product forms, and led CDMO for Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine. In particular, the Novavax vaccine generated additional revenue through bulk production under the license agreement for 'Nuvaxovid Prefilled Syringe,' which received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in December last year.

SK Bioscience's contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) product, Novavax COVID-19 vaccine 'Nuvaxovid Prefilled Syringe'. /Photo by Lee Chunhee

SK Bioscience plans to gain momentum in growth by obtaining domestic approval for its self-developed synthetic antigen COVID-19 vaccine 'GBP510' in the first half of the year. Currently, GBP510 is undergoing global Phase 3 clinical trials and additional domestic booster shot trials simultaneously. To enhance vaccine safety, clinical trials for children and adolescents are being pursued, and trials for pregnant women are also being prepared.

Additionally, SK Bioscience is expanding the development platform of GBP510 to develop vaccines targeting COVID-19 variants such as Omicron, aiming to enter clinical trials by April. The company also plans to accelerate research and development of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine platforms, which are emerging as next-generation technologies. Furthermore, SK Bioscience is developing a 'combo vaccine' that simultaneously prevents COVID-19 and influenza, targeting clinical trial entry within this year, and plans to develop a universal vaccine targeting 'Sarbecoviruses' such as COVID-19 and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) viruses.

Jae-yong Ahn, CEO of SK Bioscience, stated, “Our world-class vaccine production capabilities are reflected in results through the CMO/CDMO business, and our high-level research and development (R&D) capabilities have led to outcomes to the extent that leading overseas companies propose collaborations. We will continue to invest generously not only in next-generation vaccine and platform development but also in new businesses, growing into a vaccine and bio company recognized both domestically and globally.”

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