SK Plasma Wins IJGlobal Award for "Life-Saving Investment"

First Korean Pharmaceutical Company to Win in This Category

The Indonesian blood plasma product self-sufficiency project has attracted attention as a new social infrastructure investment model in the global market.

On May 7, SK Plasma announced that its "Indonesia Blood Plasma Product Self-Sufficiency Project" was selected as the "Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year, APAC" at the "IJGlobal Awards 2025" hosted by Infrastructure Journal Global (IJGlobal), a leading global infrastructure and finance media outlet.

Eddy Porwanto, CEO of Indonesia's Sovereign Wealth Fund (INA) (fourth from the left), and Noh Hyunho, Head of SK Plasma Indonesia (fifth from the left), are posing for a commemorative photo at the IJGlobal Awards 2025 ceremony held last month on the 16th at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. SK Plasma

This is the first time that a Korean pharmaceutical company’s investment project has received an award in this category.

The IJGlobal Awards annually evaluate infrastructure, energy, and social infrastructure projects worldwide, considering investment structure, financial sourcing, execution performance, sustainability, and social impact to select award recipients.

SK Plasma is carrying out a blood plasma product self-sufficiency project, which centers on building plasma fractionation production facilities locally in Indonesia. To this end, SK Plasma established a joint venture, "SK Plasma Core Indonesia," with Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund (INA). INA is participating as the second-largest shareholder by investing up to USD 50 million (approximately KRW 6.69 billion) in this blood plasma project. Notably, this marks INA’s first collaboration with a Korean company. Through this project, SK Plasma is recognized for its outstanding technical and operational capabilities in constructing and operating blood plasma product plants in Indonesia.

The company explained that it received high marks not only for the social significance of establishing production infrastructure for essential medicines, but also for building a sustainable business model through a public-private partnership approach.

The facility being built in Indonesia will produce plasma-derived products such as albumin and immunoglobulin using human blood as the raw material. These medicines are essential for emergency patients, surgeries, and hemostasis, but there are only 25 countries worldwide that have built production infrastructure for blood plasma products.

Once the facility is completed, Indonesia will transition from relying on overseas imports for blood plasma products to having a healthcare system capable of stable domestic supply. By establishing a stable supply system and self-sufficiency for nationally essential medicines, Indonesia will be able to respond flexibly to infectious disease outbreaks or global supply chain crises.

It is also analyzed that the project’s ability to secure not only social significance but also business growth and vision was a key factor. SK Plasma is advancing the project as a joint venture with the Indonesian government by attracting investment from the local sovereign wealth fund. With government-level equity participation, the company will be able to stably operate its business in the local blood plasma product market after commercialization.

Eddy Porwanto, CEO of Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund (INA), stated, "This project is an example of the government's commitment to building a health security system combined with SK Plasma's technology and bold investment, solving the national challenge of establishing essential healthcare infrastructure. We will also focus on creating an ecosystem for essential medicines so that the blood plasma product market can become self-sustaining and sustainable within the country."

SK Plasma plans to expand infrastructure and R&D investments to support self-sufficiency in blood plasma product production for countries that lack such facilities, following its project in Indonesia.

Kim Seungjoo, CEO of SK Plasma, said, "Beyond building production facilities, our integrated solution model for achieving blood plasma product self-sufficiency, covering everything from raw plasma management to manufacturing, quality control, operation, and the supply system, will provide solutions for countries facing healthcare challenges due to a lack of self-sufficiency. We will expand collaboration with governments and various stakeholders in need of essential medicine self-sufficiency and, through bold investment in global infrastructure and R&D, strive to bridge the gap in essential healthcare infrastructure between countries."

Meanwhile, SK Plasma is constructing a blood plasma product production facility with an annual capacity of 600,000 liters in the Karawang region of Indonesia. The company is also conducting training and technology transfer for local personnel at its Andong plant, covering production, quality, and process management, to ensure immediate product manufacturing and stable operations once the facility is completed.

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