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SK bioscience, Gates Foundation to deepen cooperation on global health

Published: 21 Aug. 2025, 10:33 Updated: 21 Aug. 2025, 18:05

Trevor Mundel, third from left, president of Global Health at the Gates Foundation; Chey Chang-won, fourth from left, vice chairman of SK discovery; and Ahn Jae-yong, fifth from left, CEO of SK bioscience, pose with other officials after a meeting on global health projects in Seoul. [SK BIOSCIENCE]

The Gates Foundation met with multiple Korean biotech firms to explore possible cooperation on a vaccine supply project for low-income countries.

The health roundtable, organized by the Gates Foundation and nonprofit Research Investment for Global Health Technology (Right) Foundation, invited executives from companies including LG Chem, SK bioscience, SD Biosensor, Bioneer, EuBiologics, Noul and QuadMedicine, to share plans for international health cooperation on Wednesday.

The conference coincided with Bill Gates' ongoing trip to Korea that began Wednesday.

The Right Foundation is a public-private nonprofit co-established in 2018 with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Gates Foundation and Korean pharmaceutical and biotech firms, with the mission of improving health equity in infectious disease fields in low- and middle-income countries.

SK bioscience, the biotech arm of Korea's SK Group, said Thursday it will expand cooperation with the Gates Foundation on next-generation preventive medicine, with a focus on research and development (R&D) for pandemic preparedness.

Officials from SK bioscience and the foundation held a meeting in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss collaboration on vaccine development and global public health projects, the company said in a press release.

The two sides have previously worked together on several projects, including the development of vaccines for typhoid and pediatric diarrhea, as well as other antiviral preventive solutions, it said.

One of their key achievements was the joint development of SKYCovione, Korea's first domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine, which was commercialized for domestic use in 2022.

Yonhap