$2 Million Investment in US Sunflower
Contract Allows Future Direct Equity Acquisition
Possesses Independent Protein Manufacturing Technology
Expanding Overseas Investment Following German IDT Acquisition
SK Bioscience has actively sought synergies by investing in a US bio startup following its investments in Europe.
On the 25th, SK Bioscience announced that it had signed a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) to invest $2 million (approximately 2.766 billion KRW) in the US bio startup Sunflower Therapeutics. SAFE is an equity acquisition method in which early-stage startups, whose valuation is difficult to determine at present, receive proactive investment and later, when certain conditions are met for follow-up investments, the equity ratio is decided according to the agreed terms. Since the company’s value naturally increases during the follow-up investment process, investing through SAFE allows securing more shares with relatively less capital. This method has recently been widely used as an early investment approach for startups in Silicon Valley, USA, and was introduced domestically in 2020.
Sunflower, established in 2018, possesses yeast culture system technology. The yeast culture system is a protein manufacturing technology necessary for developing antigens and antibodies. In particular, Sunflower’s technology simplifies vaccine processes, reducing development time and increasing efficiency in vaccine development and production, which enables lowering manufacturing costs. Sunflower also holds proprietary technology in small-scale perfusion culture. Perfusion culture is a cultivation method that simultaneously performs cell culture and waste removal, maintaining cells at a higher concentration than conventional methods, allowing high-concentration yields even in small volumes. Utilizing this, it is expected to enable stable and high-yield multi-product small-batch production of various microorganisms such as antibodies, antigens, enzymes, cytokines, and hormones.
SK Bioscience expects that vaccine process optimization using Sunflower’s technology will be possible through this SAFE investment. It is anticipated that introducing Sunflower’s yeast culture system into the vaccine process at L House in Andong, Gyeongbuk Province, will improve yields by up to 7.7 times compared to existing methods. Costs are also confirmed to drop to about 88.7% per dose compared to previous levels.
The relationship between SK Bioscience and Sunflower began last year through collaboration on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine research and development (R&D). Subsequently, SK Bioscience highly evaluated Sunflower’s technological capabilities and growth potential during the cooperation process, leading to this investment decision. SK Bioscience plans to maximize investment value during Sunflower’s future initial public offering (IPO) and third-party mergers and acquisitions (M&A), as well as explore various ways to expand technical cooperation between the two companies.
Kerry Love, President and Co-founder of Sunflower, said, “Our cutting-edge protein manufacturing solutions transform the development process of biological products to a high level,” adding, “We are pleased with SK Bioscience’s support and hope that together, through next-generation manufacturing technologies and abundant services, we will contribute to the advancement of the global vaccine manufacturing industry.” SK Bioscience President Ahn Jae-yong also stated, “Vaccines are the key to protecting safety and strengthening national competitiveness in an era where various infectious diseases threaten humanity,” and added, “We will further solidify our relationship with Sunflower and continue to develop effective, safe, and cost-efficient vaccines to contribute to global health protection.”
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