By Investing US$261mn
SK bioscience announced on Feb. 8 that the company’s board of directors has officially decided to initiate the establishment of the ‘Songdo Global Research & Process Development (R&PD) Center.’
The R&PD Center will be built on a 30,413.8 square meter site in Songdo, Incheon, with a total investment of US$261 million.
Once the center is completed in the first half of 2025, the company's main office and the research and development (R&D) center currently located in Pangyo will move to Songdo.
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.
It plans to operate an ‘Open Lab’ in the R&PD Center to strengthen a global vaccine network. The Open Lab will be utilized as a joint research space for international organizations and biopharmaceutical companies around the world to develop new vaccines together with SK bioscience.
Furthermore, collaborations such as manpower training for other countries, which have high demand for vaccine development but do not have enough research capacities, 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 Biological Safety Level-3 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 development of vaccines against new infectious diseases.
In addition, SK bioscience plans to operate a pilot plant to strengthen global competitiveness in the CDMO market. A pilot plant, a small-scale test facility utilized before commercializing 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 utilized for new tasks under the main growth strategies of SK bioscience such as CGT (Cell and Gene Therapy) mRNA, and viral vectors platforms research. The pilot plant is expected to play a key role in leading cooperation and investment with other biopharmaceutical companies.