SK bioscience won the awards for 3rd consecutive year

SK bioscience announced on the 6th that the company has received the highest honor of the Minister´s Award in the ‘2018 Osong New Drug Awards’ granted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety(KMFDS) to companies in biopharmaecutical and medical device industries.

The awards, the tenth year since their inception in 2009, support companies in healthcare industries to recognize their new drug development efforts. SK bioscience was recognized for its contribution in developing vaccines.

Ever since SK boscience developed the Korea´s first trivalent cell culture-based influenza vaccine in 2014, the company has continuously developed the world´s first quadrivalent cell culture-based influenza vaccine, followed by the development of the world second shingles vaccine and the Korea’s second chickenpox vaccine.

The administration of SK bioscience’s influenza vaccine is now reached 14 million doses. The company is bidding for international vaccine supply tenders after acquiring a prequalification(PQ) certification from the World Health Organization.

The shingles vaccine launched in last year December contributed to stabilizing the market that had been dominated by international drug suppliers, while giving a wider range of choices for patients. SK bioscience is currently working on acquiring licenses for supplying the vaccine to countries in Southeast Asia including Thailand.

As for the chickenpox vaccine for which SK bioscience obtained a license to sell in Korea from the KMFDS, the company plans to launch it in the second half of this year while planning to supply in international vaccine tenders at the same time.

Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience, said, "We are finally seeing the results of our vaccine development dedication for the past ten years. Just like our goal, which is becoming a global leader in vaccine industry, we will be always committed to grow SK bioscience as the world´s leading vaccine company."