SK Bioscience Completes Acquisition of German Vaccine CDMO... "Targeting 1 Trillion KRW Sales Within 5 Years"

IDT Biologica Acquisition Completed
Including Vaccines, Toxins & CGT Also CDMO
Production History for US & Europe Products 'Global CDMO'
Annual Sales 400 Billion Won... SK Bioscience Plans 'Combined 1 Trillion Won'

SK Bioscience has completed the acquisition of IDT Biologika, a German company ranked among the global top 10 in vaccine contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced in June. As the company recorded sales exceeding those of SK Bioscience last year, the consolidated sales are expected to surge, and production and research bases in the US and Europe have been secured.

Ahn Jae-yong, President of SK Bioscience (left), and Carsten Klocke, CEO of Germany's Klocke Group, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing the acquisition agreement for the management stake of IDT Biologica last June.
[Photo by SK Bioscience]

On the 2nd, SK Bioscience announced that it had completed the contractual procedures for acquiring the management rights and shares of IDT Biologika from the German pharmaceutical and biotech group, Cloche. Previously, the company estimated IDT’s corporate value at approximately 440 million euros (about 656 billion KRW) and stated it would invest 339 billion KRW to acquire a 60.6% stake.

The existing owner, the Cloche Group, will continue to hold about 40% of IDT’s shares and invest 75.7 billion KRW to purchase a 1.9% stake in SK Bioscience through a third-party paid-in capital increase. This arrangement not only reduces the actual funds SK Bioscience invests in acquiring IDT but also aims to build a close partnership based on trust. At a previous acquisition briefing, SK Bioscience CEO Ahn Jae-yong said, “Cloche expressed their intention to retain shares first,” adding, “I believe their decision to keep shares reflects their desire to grow this company together rather than exit.”

IDT, established in 1921, is a company with over 100 years of expertise and approximately 1,800 employees. It has been recognized for its capabilities by global key pharmaceutical regulatory agencies, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and possesses production capabilities for vaccines, biopharmaceutical raw materials, and finished pharmaceuticals across all stages from clinical to commercial. It has contract-manufactured COVID-19 vaccines for Janssen and AstraZeneca and also produces Zeomin, a toxin product for German company Merz, under contract manufacturing (CMO).

SK Bioscience plans to promote organic integration to enhance management efficiency and expand business between the two companies. The plan is to double IDT’s annual sales compared to the current level and improve EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) to up to 25% of sales. CEO Ahn emphasized, “The combined sales of both companies exceed 700 billion KRW,” and added, “(The current operating loss recorded by IDT) can be quickly caught up, and there are no issues with financial structure or cash flow.” As of last year, SK Bioscience recorded sales of 369.5 billion KRW and an operating loss of 12 billion KRW, while IDT recorded sales of about 400 billion KRW and an operating loss of about 14.7 billion KRW.

Through this, SK Bioscience aims to achieve its goal of becoming a consolidated annual sales company of 1 trillion KRW within five years. The goal is considered achievable not only through IDT but also with the growth of SK Bioscience’s own products, such as the 21-valent next-generation pneumococcal vaccine “SkyPack,” being developed jointly with global big pharma Sanofi, targeted for completion in 2027.

Exterior view of the IDT Biologica factory in Germany
[Photo by IDT Biologica]

SK Bioscience’s top priority is to maximize the utilization rate of production facilities owned by IDT. In particular, among IDT’s drug substance (DS) and drug product (DP) production facilities, large vial manufacturing equipment will be established as infrastructure for securing large-scale projects mainly from global pharmaceutical companies. The freeze-dried vial manufacturing line aims to optimize the extension of existing contracted projects and the acquisition of late-stage clinical projects for promising clinical pipelines and highly commercial cell and gene therapies (CGT). Additional acquisition of cell line manufacturing technology and recombinant vaccine development capabilities will also be pursued to secure new CDMO contracts for medium to large-sized products.

Furthermore, through additional investments, SK Bioscience plans to expand its business areas into high-growth sectors such as oncolytic viruses (OV), adeno-associated viruses (AAV), lentiviruses (LV), prefilled syringes (PFS), and recombinant vaccines, as well as technology transfer and production of existing major SK Bioscience products such as influenza, shingles, chickenpox, and typhoid.

The composition of IDT’s board of directors and management team will also be organized quickly for stability. Not only CEO Ahn Jae-yong but also key executives from the Cloche Group, including CEO Carsten Cloche, will form the board. Additionally, IDT’s management will be jointly led by Sally Choi, head of SK Bioscience’s development division, and the existing CEO Ulrich Walle. Ms. Choi holds a PhD from the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy and has worked at global pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). She served for 12 years at the FDA, holding positions such as deputy director of the Office of Translational Sciences and director of the Office of Generic Drugs.

Ulrich Walle, CEO of IDT, said, “Strategic collaboration with SK Bioscience is an important milestone contributing to our vision of becoming a leading CDMO company and a driving force for sustainable success and competitiveness,” adding, “I am confident that combining the strengths of both companies will yield great results.” SK Bioscience CEO Ahn Jae-yong also said, “With the acquisition process completed, the two companies have truly become one family, and we will quickly achieve management stabilization,” adding, “The capabilities of both companies are complementary, and I expect tremendous synergy, which will accelerate our global expansion.”