SK Bioscience CEO Ahn Jae-yong talks during a press conference in Seoul on April 28, 2023, in this photo provided by the company.
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) — SK Bioscience Co., a pharmaceutical affiliate under SK Group, said Friday it will invest 2.4 trillion won (US$1.79 billion) by 2028 as it is seeking to further expand its contract manufacturing business.
The proposed investment — twice the amount the company had spent in the past five years — is meant to strengthen its readiness for the next pandemic, expand its overseas operations and seize new business opportunities.
Of the total investment, the company said half would be spent on research and development (R&D) and the construction of a new R&D campus in Songdo, Incheon, west of Seoul, which is expected to be completed in 2025.
“The next five years will be crucial to determine the future of the company,” SK Bioscience CEO Ahn Jae-yong said at a press conference Friday in central Seoul. “We promise to grow in a swift and systematic manner,” he said.
SK Bioscience has produced the COVID-19 vaccines of AstraZeneca and Novavax in the country under a partnership deal.
The company is seeking to further expand its contract manufacturing business, with the goal of inking deals with major pharmaceutical companies within the year, Ahn said.
“A deal could come as early as within the first half of this year,” he said.
Also the company has been looking for a possible merger deal in the United States in the field of cell and gene therapy.
“We might give you good news (on a deal) within the year,” he said.
This photo provided by SK Bioscience Co. shows its vaccine manufacturing plant in Andong, 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
The company swung to a deficit for the January-March period as waning demand led to a drop in the production of licensed COVID-19 vaccines. Its loss amounted to 29.2 billion won, compared with a profit of 23.8 billion won a year ago.
Ahn expected the company to make a turnaround in three years after investing aggressively in building up the foundations for future growth.
As part of the efforts, the company will continue to push its “glocalization” business strategy, where it works with foreign countries with inadequate access to vaccines to secure reliable production facilities and seek new markets.
SK Bioscience was in talks with several partners in the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America on that front, and could possibly announce more than two deals within the year, he said.
The company will also resume production of its flu vaccine, SkyCellflu, which the company had suspended two years ago to focus on the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. The flu vaccine has been approved in 11 countries at the moment.
It aims to boost the sales of in-house vaccines to 220 billion won next year from 44 billion won in 2022.
To prepare for the next global pandemic, the CEO said the company has been closely cooperating with global foundations, such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
And it hopes to receive an approval for its SKYCovione, South Korea’s first home-grown COVID-19 vaccine, from the World Health Organization for emergency use within the year.
(Yonhap)
