Looking to get a leg up on future pandemics, SK bioscience is building out a technologically advanced “vaccine ecosystem” in its home country of Korea.
SK is plugging a collective $261 million into a Global Research & Process Development Center (R&PD center), which is being built on a 30,414-square-meter plot in the “smart city” of Songdo along Incheon’s waterfront.
Once the work is complete, SK will relocate its current headquarters and research and development center in Pangyo to the new Songdo site, the company said in a release. The new site is expected to be up and running in the first half of 2025, SK said.
At the R&PD center, SK says it’s angling to secure technologies ranging from basic research to commercial manufacturing. The company's goal is to ultimately create a “global vaccine ecosystem” to help get ahead of new infectious diseases.
To advance that goal, SK plans to debut an “Open Lab” in the R&PD center that will be used as a joint research space for international organizations and biopharmas around the world that are partnering with SK to develop new vaccines.
Alongside the center’s R&D functions, SK plans to set up a pilot plant to strengthen its foothold in the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing market. The small-scale test facility will be designed for use before SK and partners move to commercial production.
SK also plans to use the pilot plant to pursue new areas of interest, such as cell and gene therapy, mRNA and viral vector platform research, the company said.
The plans for the R&PD center mesh with the growth strategy SK unveiled back in November. At the time, SK said it would pivot its focus to responding to the endemic phase of COVID-19 and expanding its vaccine business to a global market.
Further, the company said it would pursue purchases of cell and gene therapy and next-generation platform technologies. Plus, it aims to strengthen its global partnership, R&D and manufacturing capabilities to prepare for future pandemics and advance novel therapies.