SK Bioscience said Tuesday that it signed a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) agreement with Novavax for the technology transfer concerning Covid-19 vaccine antigen substances and the undiluted solution of subvariant-adaptive vaccines.

The recent contract is the revision of last year’s Covid-19 vaccine CMO deal to suit the current situation of spreading subvariants.

Under the contract, Novavax will transfer Covid-19 subvariant vaccine technology to SK Bioscience for solution production at two of the three production facilities in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province.

Besides, they also signed a new CMO deal for supplying produced subvariant vaccine solutions in prefilled syringe types, worth about 39.5 billion won ($29.8 million). SK Bioscience is to begin the new-formula production this year, applying it to the Novavax vaccine to be produced at its Andong plant from next year.

The Korean company said that SK Bioscience and Novavax would actively respond to the pandemic and strengthen ties between the two companies.

Novavax will supply new vaccines in response to the anticipated Covid-19 resurgence in the fall. In addition, SK Bioscience will actively respond to the Covid-19 endemic through combination, polyvalent, and general-use vaccine based on its platform, SKYCovione.

“Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine has shown efficacy on Covid-19 virus, including the Omicron BA.5 strain, according to the latest clinical trial data results,” said Novavax CEO Stanley Erck. “We are pushing ahead with BA.5 vaccine clinical trial program and making efforts to develop and commercialize virus variant vaccines in close cooperation with SK Bioscience.”

SK Bioscience CEO Ahn Jae-yong said, “Once again, we aim to perform as a global vaccine hub at a time when challenges for new virus variants are needed. We will take the lead in protecting public health as an innovative vaccine producer and partner through self-developed vaccines and cooperation with global companies.”

Nuvaxovid is the fifth Covid-19 vaccine approved in Korea and the fourth one approved in the U.S.