SK Bioscience’s COVID-19 vaccine gets approval in UK

SK Bioscience Co., the drug-making unit of South Korea’s SK Group, said on Monday that its domestic COVID-19 vaccine, SKYCovione, has received official marketing approval from the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The approval allows SKYCovione to be used as a primary vaccination for individuals aged 18 and older in the UK, Scotland and Wales. This authorization makes SKYCovione the eighth COVID-19 vaccine approved by the UK's independent medicines regulator.

SKYCovione is a synthetic antigen-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by SK Bioscience in collaboration with the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington School of Medicine. It was granted approval in South Korea in June of last year.

With this approval in the UK, SK Bioscience said it will seek additional authorizations such as inclusion in the World Health Organization's Emergency Use Listing (EUL) and sales authorization from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The company aims to contribute to effective vaccination efforts during the endemic phase and ensure smooth vaccine supply to low- and middle-income countries.

Furthermore, SK Bioscience is actively pursuing the development of universal vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 variants and multivalent vaccines.

"Amid uncertain circumstances where the need for vaccines was questioned due to the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have come this far with a belief in safeguarding global public health,” said Ahn Jae-Yong, SK Bioscience CEO, adding, “I am confident that this approval will be a catalyst to solidifying our global market position in the new phase of the endemic situation."

By Hyun-Ah Oh 

5hyun@hankyung.com