SK Bioscience becomes first to win domestic COVID-19 vaccine contract 

SK Bioscience Co. said it reached a deal with Korea’s disease control agency to supply 10 million doses of the country’s first experimental COVID-19 vaccine.

This is the first time a vaccine developed by a South Korean company has signed a supply contract with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The vaccine candidate, GBP510, is jointly developed with the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design and aided by global drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline.

SK Bioscience is conducting Phase 3 trials of the vaccine candidate in six nations including Korea. Last month, the company administered the GBP510 to some 4050 people and is currently analyzing the results.

Should the trial confirm GBP510's efficacy and safety, it will be the sixth COVID-19 vaccine to be supplied for use in Korea. The vaccine is expected to be approved in the first half of this year. 

Much like the Novavax vaccine, GBP510 uses the protein-recombinant method. 

In earlier clinical trials, the generation of the neutralizing antibodies against the COVID-19 virus has been confirmed in all participants receiving the adjuvanted vaccine, according to SK Bioscience. The trials demonstrated a 100% seroconversion rate.

The press release added that the observed neutralizing antibody titer was 5 to 8 times higher compared to human sera from recovered COVID-19 patients. 

The pros of the new vaccine candidate are that it will be safer to use and easier to keep refrigerated.

Within the first half of this year, it plans to receive the Emergency Use Authorization from the World Health Organization.

The company recently submitted paperwork for approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom. 

Last May, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and SK Bioscience announced an expanded partnership to develop a vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2, including variants of concern. CEPI had agreed to provide up to $173 million in additional funding to SK bioscience to support its COVID-19 vaccine development program.

Experts say the latest development is positive news for other vaccine developers in Korea. 

For the final phase of clinical trials, the vaccine candidate is compared to existing vaccines. Until now, vaccine developers found it challenging to secure existing vaccines for Phase 3 clinical trials as the imported vaccines are for administering purposes only.

SK Bioscience is comparing the new candidate to AstraZeneca vaccines, which it produced on a consignment contract basis.

Write to Ju-Hyun Lee at deep@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.