SK bioscience granted $140 million from CEPI to develop mRNA technology

SK bioscience has been granted $140 million in funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop mRNA technology.

The Korean vaccine maker signed the agreement with CEPI Tuesday, at a hotel in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, with Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, SK bioscience CEO Ahn Jae-yong and SK discovery Vice Chairman Chey Chang-won in attendance. 

CEPI is an international foundation that promotes equal worldwide distribution of pandemic vaccines.

mRNA, or messenger ribonucleic acid, technology induces an immune response by injecting antigen genes into the body to create spike proteins. The Moderna and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines use mRNA.

The Korean vaccine maker will receive $40 million in the first phase to conduct Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of two mRNA vaccine projects. Another $100 million will be provided in the Phase 3 trials. 

Since last year, SK bioscience has been cooperating with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for two mRNA projects. The foundation granted SK $2 million, which the company used to conduct ongoing preclinical trials.

"CEPI’s expanded partnership with SK bioscience will help kick start the world’s efforts to validate these mRNA platform technologies so that they can be used to create a library of vaccines ready for use against the next pandemic," said CEPI's Hatchett.

The global mRNA vaccine market will increase by an annual rate of 12 percent to reach $127.3 billion in 2027, according to data from the Global Industrial Analyst.  

Starting in 2020, SK bioscience received a total of $213.7 million from CEPI and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the development of SKYCovione, the country's first domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine. It gained use approvals from Korea and Britain and has been awaiting approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and World Health Organization. 

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]