'Contract Manufacturing' SK Bioscience to Receive Technology Transfer as Well

Momentum Builds for Domestically Developed Vaccines

SK Bioscience Vaccine Factory L House in Andong, Gyeongbuk (Photo by SK Bioscience) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] SK Bioscience took a step closer to securing autonomy over COVID-19 vaccines by receiving technology transfer for the Novavax vaccine from the United States on the 20th, enabling domestic production and supply. In particular, as SK Bioscience is pushing beyond simple contract manufacturing (CMO) to technology transfer, it is expected to accelerate the acquisition of vaccine technology.

SK Bioscience had already signed a CMO contract for the AstraZeneca vaccine in July last year and agreed to contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) for Novavax in August. With President Moon Jae-in’s visit to SK Bioscience this time, the company has made a final decision to produce an additional 20 million doses of the Novavax vaccine. SK Bioscience is securing COVID-19 vaccines simultaneously through vaccines developed globally and its own platform technology. Recently, the COVID-19 vaccine candidate ‘NBP2001’ developed in-house has entered clinical trials, with results steadily becoming visible.

The fact that technology transfer of vaccines developed globally is also being discussed carries significance beyond merely increasing the volume of vaccines produced domestically. The specific scope and duration of the Novavax vaccine technology transfer will require further negotiation. Since Novavax has signed CMO contracts with several global companies, immediate technology transfer may be limited to vaccine quantities for domestic use.

Especially as domestic pharmaceutical companies have been relatively slow in vaccine development, this marks a step forward in resolving the continuously raised issue of ‘vaccine sovereignty.’ Since SK Bioscience aims to complete the development of its own COVID-19 vaccine this year, it is evaluated that adding Novavax’s technology in the future could create a synergistic effect. A pharmaceutical industry official said, “Korea is in a situation where it needs to speed up securing COVID-19 vaccines, but previously it was only looking to global companies. This technology transfer decision is meaningful in that Korea now has the foundation for an active response capable of producing and supplying COVID-19 vaccines at any time.”

As SK Bioscience emerges as a strong player in COVID-19 vaccines, a green light has also been turned on for its planned initial public offering (IPO) this year. The company’s sales grew from 99.4 billion KRW in its first year after being spun off from SK Chemicals in 2018 to 183.9 billion KRW in 2019 and 158.6 billion KRW up to the third quarter of last year. The L House in Andong, Gyeongbuk, equipped with a state-of-the-art aseptic production system and global-level facilities for vaccine production, will be fully operational as a COVID-19 vaccine production base this year, enabling immediate mass production, which is also seen as a positive factor. Samsung Securities analyzed that if SK Bioscience’s production operation rate rises to 80% as a COVID-19 vaccine CMO, annual sales could reach up to 900 billion KRW, and if it reaches 90%, it could approach 1 trillion KRW.