Bill Gates and SK's Changwon Choi Meet to Discuss Global Health Cooperation Including Vaccines

Discussing Expanded Collaboration on Next-Generation Preventive Medicine
Based on Mutual Trust Between the Two Organizations

Changwon Choi, Vice Chairman of SK Discovery, met with Bill Gates, the founder of the Gates Foundation-the world's largest nonprofit organization-to discuss ways to collaborate on advancing global health.

Key officials from SK Bioscience and the Gates Foundation are posing for a commemorative photo after their meeting. From the left: Hyunjun Yoon, Head of BD1 at SK Bioscience; Isabel Torres, Senior Advisor at the Gates Foundation; Trevor Mundel, President of Global Health at the Gates Foundation; Changwon Choi, Vice Chairman of SK Discovery; Jaeyong Ahn, President of SK Bioscience; Kara Caruba, Deputy Director of Global Health at the Gates Foundation; Jinseon Park, Head of Marketing & Business Development at SK Bioscience. Photo by Wright Foundation

According to SK Bioscience on August 21, the previous day, key figures including Vice Chairman Changwon Choi and Jaeyong Ahn, President of SK Bioscience, met with Bill Gates, Chairman of the Gates Foundation, and Trevor Mundel, President of Global Health at the Foundation, at a location in Yeouido, Seoul.

Through this meeting, SK Bioscience and the Gates Foundation reaffirmed their long-term partnership. They also agreed to further expand the scope of their future collaboration, building on ongoing vaccine development and global public health projects. In particular, they discussed ways to broaden cooperation, focusing on next-generation preventive medicine research and development tasks, including vaccine development for the next pandemic that SK Bioscience is currently pursuing.

Since 2013, SK Bioscience and the Gates Foundation have maintained a collaborative relationship to address global public health challenges through various projects, including the development of vaccines for typhoid and pediatric enteritis, as well as antiviral preventive solutions. Notably, the successful development and commercialization of South Korea's first COVID-19 vaccine in 2022 stands as a prime example of their effective partnership. That year, Bill Gates and Trevor Mundel visited Korea to deliver congratulatory messages and held individual meetings with SK Group Chairman Taewon Chey and Vice Chairman Changwon Choi.

SK Bioscience plans to continue contributing to public health improvement and expanding vaccine accessibility in collaboration with global partners.