The Government Pharmaceutical Organization

(From left) Thailand Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, GPO managing director Dr Mingkwan Suphannaphong, SK bioscience, CEO Jaeyong Ahn and Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Thailand Charge d’affaires ad interim Joyoung Jeon at the MoU at the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand. Credit: SK bioscience. South Korea-based SK bioscience and the Thailand state-owned pharmaceutical company the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) have entered a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to bolster vaccine infrastructure in Thailand. The deal will enhance the country’s pandemic response system, aiming to produce Thailand’s vaccines locally. It will then be expanded to the wider southeast Asian region. Recommended Reports Reports Clinical Trials - The Expanding Landscape of Regenerative Medicine GlobalData Reports Innovation in Pharmaceuticals: Recombinant viral vector-based medicinal preparations GlobalData View all Companies Intelligence SK Inc MOU S.A. The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity View all The two companies will support vaccine development and manufacturing capabilities in Thailand, working together closely in the mid-to-long-term to support the country as a vaccine hub in southeast Asia. SK bioscience will transfer its cell culture-based influenza vaccine’s production and manufacturing technology to the GPO’s facility. Following this technology transfer, SK bioscience will provide the vaccine’s processes to the Thai company, which will seek marketing authorisation from the regulators. The vaccines produced will be used for the national vaccination drive in Thailand. GPO managing director Dr Mingkwan Suphannaphong stated: “A MoU-signing ceremony between GPO and SK bioscience today substantially contributes to a collaboration on manufacturing the cell-culture based influenza vaccine locally in Thailand, namely the trivalent and quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccines. “The drug substance bulk produced by SK will be initially delivered to GPO prior to making the drug products.” In June 2023, SK bioscience and the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity entered a research partnership to develop a next-generation influenza vaccine.

South Korea's SK bioscience and Thailand’s Government Pharmaceutical Organization are partnering to expand the country's vaccine production sector. SK bioscience signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand’s Government Pharmaceutical Organization to help develop the country’s vaccine manufacturing sector, with the partners aiming to turn the country into a sterile injection hub for Southeast Asia. As part of the deal, SK will transfer vaccine technology to the state-run organization. A future agreement will support the transfer of the South Korean biotech’s cell culture-based influenza vaccine for local manufacturing at the plant owned by the GPO, according to a July 5 press release. Once the tech is handed over, the GPO plans to seek marketing authorization from Thailand's regulatory health agency. Both organizations expect the influenza vaccine produced at the facility will be used for Thailand's national immunization program. The agreement between the two countries is part of an effort to be prepared to respond to future pandemics and position Thailand’s manufacturing capabilities to serve the region. “The convergence of SK bioscience´s technology, GPO’s manufacturing capability, and the administrative support from health authorities from both countries will form a powerful synergy, exemplifying a successful global partnership poised to effectively respond to the next pandemic,” Jaeyong Ahn, SK bioscience's chief executive, said in the release. The GPO, which was established in 1966, supplies medicines and vaccines to Thailand’s public hospitals. For its part, SK bioscience last November revealed an expansion push to focus on vaccine manufacturing and R&D to respond to the endemic phase of COVID-19, while at the same time seeking global markets for its offerings. At the time, SK said it would purchase cell and gene therapy and next-generation platform technologies as well as strengthen its global partnership, R&D and manufacturing capabilities to prepare for future pandemics and advance novel therapies.

SK bioscience and the Government Pharmaceutical Organization agreed to establish a pandemic response platform, encompassing not only Thailand but extending its reach to the broader Southeast Asia region. SK bioscience will transfer the vaccine technology to strengthen the vaccine manufacturing environment in Thailand. SEONGNAM, South Korea , July 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SK bioscience, an innovative vaccine and biotech company committed to promoting human health from prevention to cure, announced that the company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO), a state pharmaceutical enterprise in Thailand, to strengthen Thailand's vaccine infrastructure. The agreement ceremony held at the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand, Nonthaburi was attended by Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, Dr. Mingkwan Suphannaphong, Managing Director of the GPO, Mr. Joyoung Jeon, Charge d'affaires ad interim, Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Thailand, Mr. Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience, and Dr. Hun Kim, President of Global R&BD of SK bioscience. The purpose of the MOU is to strengthen the responding system against new pandemics and localize Thailand's vaccine manufacturing capabilities which will extend to the broader Southeast Asia. The GPO is a state-owned pharmaceutical company established in 1966, supplying medicines and vaccines in Thailand. Thailand's public hospitals use at least 60% of mandatory GPO products, including pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Through the MOU, SK bioscience and the GPO will strengthen Thailand's vaccine development and manufacturing capabilities and collaborate closely in the mid- to long-term to support Thailand becoming a vaccine hub in Southeast Asia. The health authorities and related organizations of the South Korea and Thailand also agreed to support the cooperative system for health security. The Ministry of Health of the two countries signed an MOU at the World Bio Summit 2022 hosted in South Korea at the end of October last year, promising various cooperation for public health care. As a first step of the MOU, SK bioscience and the GPO also plan to sign the agreement which transfers drug product manufacturing technology of cell culture-based influenza vaccine developed by SK bioscience for local manufacturing at the plant owned by the GPO. Once the technology transfer is completed, the GPO will receive drug substance of the influenza vaccine from SK bioscience and plan to obtain a marketing authorization from the regulatory health agency. Both organizations expect that the influenza vaccine manufactured by the GPO will be utilized for the Thailand's national immunization program. In the long term, SK bioscience plans to transfer its manufacturing capability and expand supplying self-developed vaccines in other Southeast Asian countries. SK bioscience will collaborate with the GPO, the essential partner in supplying medicines in Thailand and further contribute to promoting public health in Southeast Asia. Dr. Opas Karnkawinpong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health said, "Today, this signing event will be an important milestone for Thailand's history. GPO as our delegate will be cooperating with SK bioscience, the Republic of Korea. I believed that the cooperation with strong intention from both parties will provide more vaccine access, thus leading to an increase in vaccine security for everyone." Dr. Mingkwan Suphannaphong, Managing Director of GPO said, "A signing MOU ceremony between GPO and SK bioscience today substantially contributes to a collaboration on manufacturing the cell-culture based influenza vaccine locally in Thailand, namely the trivalent and quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccines. The drug substance bulk produced by SK will be initially delivered to GPO prior to making the drug products. This collaboration is regarded as part of the technology transfer and license agreement that will be planned to sign shortly after the execution of the MOU is complete." Joyoung Jeon, Charge d'affaires ad interim, Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Thailand said, "I hope GPO and SK bioscience's joint efforts to increase Thailand's self-sufficiency in vaccine products will bear fruitful results. Furthermore, I hope the two parties find new potential opportunities for research and development on various vaccine technologies as well. I promise the Korean government will provide all necessary support for that." Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience said, "The convergence of SK bioscience's technology, GPO's manufacturing capability, and the administrative support from health authorities from both countries will form a powerful synergy, exemplifying a successful global partnership poised to effectively respond to the next pandemic. We will continuously contribute ourselves to promote public health in the world." Currently, SK bioscience promotes the 'Glocalization Project', one of main future strategies of SK bioscience based on its R&D and globally acclaimed manufacturing capabilities. SK bioscience will transfer R&D and manufacturing technologies to low- and middle- income countries with limited vaccine infrastructure for resolving a vaccine inequity issue. SK bioscience is discussing with governments and local companies in various regions, including the Middle East, and Southeast Asia for the glocalization project. About SK bioscience SK bioscience is an innovative vaccine and biotech company, committed in vaccine development and manufacturing to enable more equitable access of vaccines in the world. In leveraging strengths on cutting-edge technologies, SK bioscience has been dedicated to promoting human health from prevention to cure across the globe. With cooperation of domestic and international governments, regulatory agencies, healthcare providers, doctors and medical experts, all of the SK colleagues are passionately committed to providing high-quality vaccines to those who need them and better public healthcare solutions. - SK bioscience Website - SK bioscience LinkedIn About GPO GPO is a state enterprise under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand. With a great mission to contribute to strengthening the public health standards among the Thai people, GPO is engaged in the development and the manufacture of those essential vaccines with high quality to provide sustainability to Thailand and the ASEAN region. GPO along with the government of Thailand has continuously aimed for the growth of self-sufficiency on vaccine products by developing, sourcing, manufacturing domestically. For further information, please contact/visit Government Pharmaceutical Organization 75/1 Rama VI Road, Thung Prayathai, Rajthevi, Bangkok 10400 Tel. 02-203-8000, 02-354-8780 Call Center 1648 info@gpo.or.th Contact SK bioscience Communications Team Changhyun Jin (jin99@sk.com) Jeannie S. Pak (J.pak@sk.com) Tae-Gyun Kim (taegyunkim@sk.com) The Government Pharmaceutical Organization Dr. Ponthip Wirachwong (ponthip.w@gpo.or.th) Dr. Norapath Pesirikan (norapathp@gpo.or.th) Company Codes: Korea:SKBS, Korea:302440