Supporting Shared Growth of the Global Bio Industry

To contribute to global public health, SK bioscience supports the growth of stakeholders in the bio-industry to promote shared growth in each area. We will continue to strive to become a company that generates social value through investments in bio ventures, collaborative research and development to advance bio technologies, nurturing professionals, and supporting global initiatives and local communities.

Supporting the growth of Bio-ventures

SK bioscience has invested in the KRW 150 billion Yuanta K-Bio Vaccine Fund to support the growth of bio ventures in the clinical stage and contribute to a creation of a bio ecosystem. Along with the fund investment, SK bioscience also directly invests in a number of domestic bio ventures to promote mutual growth.

Investment Review Process

1. 신규 EV Item 발굴:유관 조직
2. 투자심의위원회 실시
3. ESG위원회 보고:전략기획실/이사회사무국
4. 이사회 보고:전략기획실/이사회사무국
5. Item 시행:유관 조직

투명한 의사결정을 위한 실행 프로세스 강화

Basic Research Support

SK bioscience collaborates closely with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in pursuit of our shared objective to promote 'global public health'.

We have pledged to donate KRW 3 billion to IVI for three years from 2022 to support vaccine R&D equipment and research. In this way, we aim to make further advancements to the vaccine R&D ecosystem by supporting organizations involved in all stages of the value chain, from development to distribution of vaccines.

SK bioscience has also established an industry-academia collaboration system for infectious disease response at Korea University Medical Center in 2022. Also we have allocated KRW 5 billion for three years (year 2022 to 2025) to establish an infectious disease surveillance system and conduct joint vaccine research.

Hosting Park Mahn-Hoon Award Ceremony

In honor of the dedication to vaccinee R&D, SK bioscience, together with the International Vaccine Institute, established the Park Mahn-hoon Award. This award aims to recognize individuals and organizations for their outstanding contributions to global health and enhance the global vaccine R&D capabilities. In April 2024, the third Park Mahn-hoon Awards were presented to Professor Jan Holmgren at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, who have developed the world's first oral cholera vaccine, and Professor Barney Graham at Morehouse School of Medicine, USA, and Professor Jason McLellan at the University of Texas, USA, who have contributed to the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines and antibody therapies through their research in antigen design, reagent development, vaccine delivery and manufacturing technologies.

Fostering Global Bio-talent

Fostering Talent through Scholarship Support

SK bioscience supports research in the healthcare field through collaborations with various global organizations and sponsorship with the goal of ‘promoting public health worldwide’. In addition, we foster global bio-talent by providing scholarships and sponsoring educational programs for exceptional individuals in the field of bio/vaccines.

• Park Mahn-Hoon Scholarship

  • Department of Life Sciences at Seoul National University, Boseong High School
    : Granting about 10 students with KRW 5 million every year
    
    

• Other Scholarships

  • Gyeongkuk National University
    : Granting 8 students with KRW 2 million every year
  • Supporting the Department of Vaccine Biotechnology of the Gyeongkuk National University
    : Providing mentoring, education and collaborative projects, field training, curriculum collaboration, and internship experience

Gyeongkuk National University’s Industry-Academia Cooperation Ceremony

Board/Committee Oversight for Access to Healthcare Issues

SK bioscience regularly reviews and oversees issues related to the access to healthcare at the Board of Directors and ESG Committee level to promote global public health and reduce the imbalance in vaccine supply. In 2024, we discussed in depth the agendas for various projects aimed at creating a global bio ecosystem.

Enhancing Access to Healthcare through Global Vaccine Supply

SK bioscience is contributing to the improvement of human health by building a value chain that encompasses the entire process from basic research to production, licensing, and commercialization of vaccines. In collaboration with global organizations, we have developed our own vaccine portfolio, SKYVAX, targeting infectious diseases that pose a significant burden on public health, including influenza, shingles, chickenpox, and typhoid.

SKYVAX products are essential vaccines for the prevention of infectious diseases that have a significant impact on public health, including influenza, which affects up to 1 billion people annually; chickenpox, which affects 140 million people; and typhoid, which has an incidence of 11 to 21 million cases. In particular, SKYTyphoid (typhoid vaccine), developed in collaboration with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) with support from the Gates Foundation, is a prime example of a successful global collaboration that has been commercialized.

Global Expansion with Multilateral Procurement

SK bioscience is participating in international procurement biddings for SKYCellflu (influenza vaccine) and SKYVaricella (chickenpox vaccine), which have received WHO Prequalification (PQ), and continues to expand direct access to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

• 1)PAHO : Pan American Health Organization (the American Regional Office (AMRO) of WHO)

Plan for Vaccine Supply Expansion

SK bioscience will contribute to improving human health by expanding global vaccine access and continuing international cooperation to prevent infectious diseases.

Global partnership collaboration

SK bioscience collaborates with global health partners such as the Gates Foundation, the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), GAVI⁴⁾, CEPI⁵⁾, and others to promote public health and improve access to health. These partnerships are focused on expanding vaccine supply in low-income countries and health-fragile regions and strengthening the global vaccine supply system.

In collaboration with the Gates Foundation, we are creating an innovative vaccine development and supply strategy that enables more effective and rapid production by sharing resources and technologies during the research and development of vaccines. This contributes to expanding vaccine supply to low-income countries and strengthen health systems.

Our collaborative research projects with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) are playing a critical role in improving the effectiveness of vaccines and developing new vaccine candidates.

Our partnership with GAVI is focused on expanding the access to vaccines in low-income countries and driving efficiencies within the global supply chain, while our work with CEPI is focused on building a platform for rapid response in the event of an epidemic and improving access to healthcare.

Those global partnerships are a key foundation for SK bioscience's contribution to building a sustainable public health environment, and we will continue to work with various stakeholders to ensure that the world's population has access to safe and effective vaccines.

• 4)GAVI : Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization
• 5)CEPI : Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations

Glocalization Strategy

The global vaccine supply imbalance is a serious problem. To date, approximately 67% of the population in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have not received a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and according to the WHO's World Vaccine Market Report, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, has an uptake rate of 83% in developed countries, compared to less than half in LMICs at 41%.

To address these issues, SK bioscience is developing glocalization projects around the world. Glocalization is an innovative model that goes beyond the concept of establishing local factories to produce products, and promotes self-sufficiency of each country's vaccines to ensure timely supply of the vaccines they need. We are continuing discussions with governments and local companies in various countries, and plan to expand the project gradually.

First, we are promoting the localization of vaccine development and production with the Thai government based on a Public-Private Partnership. We are working closely with the Thai government's state-owned pharmaceutical company and relevant government agencies with the goal of localizing vaccines in Thailand and strengthening health security in the ASEAN region.

Based on this collaboration, we are discussing long-term cooperation utilizing SKYVAX and other vaccine-based technologies. This will enable SK bioscience to secure a stable supply chain in Thailand and the ASEAN region, and contribute to improving vaccine self-sufficiency and pandemic preparedness in the region.

Supporting Capacity-Building in Developing Countries

SK bioscience participates in the Regional Vaccine Manufacturing Collaborative (RVMC) to address global vaccine inequalities and strengthens access to vaccines. The RVMC is a global council launched at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in May 2022 to address the inequality in vaccine supply between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. SK bioscience is working with global public health organizations such as WHO and GAVI to establish regional vaccine hubs and create a data-driven, sustainable global supply chain and collaborative ecosystem. In doing so, we strive to strengthen global partnerships and contribute to improving the global vaccine supply chain.

We also actively supports our partners in developing countries to strengthen their pharmacovigilance (PV) capabilities. Beyond PV audits on our international partners, we also help our partners in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) understand advanced pharmacovigilance systems, with experts from both our audit and PV teams visiting them to provide practical advices.

In addition, starting in 2024, we are offering PV training for our international partners on our products. The training is more than just information transfer. It is focused on enabling our partners in LMICs to learn advanced PV business systems and know-how and apply them in their works.

Based on our experience and know-how in vaccine R&D and production, SK bioscience is engaged in business discussions with governments and local companies in various countries to provide technologies to other countries with poor vaccine infrastructure and to build local production facilities so that they can develop their own production capabilities. We plan to support our international partners in strengthening their infrastructures and production capabilities, including meeting international drug manufacturing standards, by helping them build production infrastructure, sharing know-how, dispatching our technical personnels for technology transfer, and training local personnels.

Increasing Affordability across Markets

SK bioscience supplies its vaccine products, including SKYVAX, to both public and private markets in Korea and abroad. In the public market, we supply vaccines to various countries, including Korea and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), through participation in the National Immunization Program (NIP) and multilateral procurement projects.

When pricing vaccines, we consider a variety of factors, including market conditions, cost structures, policies and regulations, and the public good nature of vaccines, while ensuring that market-specific price accessibility is fully considered. The key factors to consider are as follows.

We participate in a variety of multilateral procurement projects to improve access to healthcare in low-income countries, contributing to the local supply of essential medicines at affordable prices. For SKYCellflu and SKYVaricella which we supply through PAHO, we use PAHO's procurement prices, which are updated twice a year and shared with us, as a guide for pricing. Similarly, for SKYTyphoid, which we are preparing to supply through UNICEF, we look at the supplier prices published by UNICEF and set our prices accordingly.

In addition, private markets at home and abroad are setting the lowest public bids for each product and setting the right price, taking into account the needs and specificities of each market and the social value of universal vaccine access.