SK bioscience completes WHO-led SARS virus international standard material project

SK bioscience said on Wednesday it was the only private enterprise involved in the joint research project led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to establish the SARS virus international standard material, which was recently completed.

International standard materials serve as benchmarks to compare and evaluate the quality, safety, and efficacy of vaccines. The absence of an international standard material can make it challenging to verify the efficacy of vaccines and therapeutics.

WHO officially announced the SARS virus international standard material in October last year, with SK bioscience conducting an immunogenicity analysis. The project included 12 global health institutions, including WHO, the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and China’s National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC).

The newly announced SARS virus international standard material is expected to support vaccine and therapeutic development worldwide.

SK bioscience had also participated in the WHO-led initiative to establish an International Standard Material for Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2022.

“We are pleased to contribute to the WHO project and support global health efforts,” SK bioscience Bio Research Center Head Park Yong-wook said. “We will continue to develop expertise in infectious disease response through global collaborations.”

Meanwhile, SK bioscience is collaborating with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) on the ‘100-Day Mission’ to prepare for future pandemics. As part of this initiative, the company is developing an mRNA vaccine platform and has recently received regulatory approval for a phase 1/2 clinical trial of its Japanese encephalitis vaccine candidate, GBP560.