SK bioscience, a global innovative vaccine and biotech company has officially decided to initiate the establishment of the 'Songdo Global Research & Process Development Center (The R&PD Center)'.
The establishment of the R&PD Center will be built on a 30,413.8 sqm site in Songdo, Republic of Korea with a total investment of $261m (325.7 billion KRW), including the previous investment of $33m (41.9 billion KRW).
SK bioscience will also secure the advanced BSL-3 (Biological Safety Level) research facilities to further strengthen its own vaccine pipeline
Once the establishment of the R&PD Center is completed in the first half of 2025, the headquarters and the research and development (R&D) centre currently located in Pangyo will move to Songdo area.
SK bioscience aims to secure the newest technologies covering the entire process from basic research to commercial manufacturing and to ultimately create a global vaccine ecosystem to preemptively respond to new infectious diseases through the establishment.
The 'Open Lab'
To achieve this goal, SK bioscience plans to operate the ‘Open Lab’ in the R&PD Center to strengthen a global vaccine network. The Open Lab will be utilised as a joint research space for international organisations and biopharmaceutical companies around the world to develop new vaccines together with SK bioscience.
Furthermore, collaborations such as manpower training for other countries which do not have enough research capacities but high demand for vaccine development, are planned in the Open Lab. The operation of the Open Lab will help promote the ‘Glocalization’ business, a project which transfers SK bioscience's R&D and production capabilities to countries with high demand for vaccines but insufficient human and physical infrastructure, and one of the main future strategies of SK bioscience.
SK bioscience will also secure the advanced BSL-3 (Biological Safety Level) research facilities to further strengthen its own vaccine pipeline.
BSL is a rating standard for biological facilities capable of conducting microbial research under high biohazard levels. BSL-3 level research facilities are required for the development of vaccines against new infectious diseases.
In addition, SK bioscience plans to operate a pilot plant to strengthen global competitiveness in the C(D)MO market. A pilot plant, a small-scale test facility utilised before commercialising a new method or a product, will be established at the R&PD. The plant will be designed as a cGMP-level production facility, the highest demanding standard worldwide.
The plant will also be utilised for new tasks under the main growth strategies of SK bioscience such as CGT (Cell and Gene Therapy) mRNA, and viral vector platform research. As SK bioscience is planning a future strategy to advance to new markets through JV (Joint Venture) and M&A, the pilot plant is expected to play a key role in leading cooperation and investment with other biopharmaceutical companies.
The establishment of the R&PD Center will be a crucial milestone for us to advance the entire vaccine and biopharmaceutical industry beyond Korea
- Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience
Since the plant can produce samples for non-clinical, clinical, and commercial scale, SK bioscience will accelerate expanding its new pipeline through synergy with ‘L-HOUSE´, a vaccine manufacturing facility located in Andong area.
Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience said: “The establishment of the R&PD Center will be a crucial milestone for us to advance the entire vaccine and biopharmaceutical industry beyond Korea to the world. We will ultimately organise the ‘Dream Team’ of the global health network to protect a safe tomorrow for people around the world.”