SK bioscience said on Friday that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Serbian government and Frontier Biopharma to develop the vaccine manufacturing environment in Serbia.

Consequently, SK bioscience and Frontier Biopharma also agreed to sign a contract within the year to establish vaccine manufacturing facilities in Serbia with support from the Serbian government.

Accordingly, SK bioscience will utilize its own vaccine R&D, manufacturing, and commercialization capabilities to strengthen the vaccine manufacturing environment to a global-certified level, transfer technologies, and know-how for pandemic preparedness, commercialize products, train human resources, and support vaccine R&D in Serbia. 

Meanwhile, the Serbian government will provide administrative support related to the project and cooperate for the supply of drug products in Serbia. Frontier Biopharma will be in charge of the overall operation of the project. 

The newly established platform will supply Serbia and other European and emerging markets from a hub in Serbia. Currently, most medical devices and medicines in Serbia are imported from Europe and the U.S. but Serbia has been actively seeking international collaborations to grow its biopharmaceutical and medical industry. 

“This MOU with SK bioscience and Frontier Biopharma is proof of Serbia’s commitment to investments in BIO4 in the areas of biomedicine, biotechnology, bioinformatics, and biodiversity, as well as Serbia’s attractiveness to the best global biopharmaceutical companies,” said Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić during her visit to the SK bioscience headquarters. “We are happy to host SK bioscience as the hub for the region and Europe.”

“Over the next year, we will work closely with our partners to establish a manufacturing hub that will serve Serbia and international markets with products of the highest quality,” said Frontier Biopharma CEO Kiren L. Naidoo.

“The demand for vaccine self-sufficiency has increased in the world due to the pandemic and this collaboration demonstrates that SK bioscience can contribute to improving global health,” said SK discovery Vice Chairman Chey Chang-won.