SK bioscience ships first of promised 750,000 vaccine doses in first half of 2025SK bioscience ships first of promised 750,000 vaccine doses in first half of 2025

Vaccine developer and manufacturer SK bioscience announced the first 2025 shipment of its cell-culture based SKYCELLflu influenza vaccine to markets in the Southern Hemisphere, including Southeast Asia and Latin America. The company has vowed to ship 750,000 doses of vaccine in the first half of 2025.

The announced shipment is the company’s second export for the Southern Hemisphere, following a 2024 vaccine shipment to Thailand. And although that company is geographically north of the equator, it follows the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) guidance for Southern Hemisphere formulation and administration due to its tropical climate.

Doses of SKYCELLflu are manufactured at SK bioscience’s L HOUSE facility in Andong, South Korea, which the company touts as the largest cell-culture vaccine plant in the country.

SKYCELLflu is the first cell culture-based influenza vaccine in the world to obtain WHO prequalification (PQ) certification. According to the company, the vaccine’s technology offers advantages over egg-based production, such as a reduced risk of mutation during manufacture. Cell-culture technology can also be manufactured faster, which enables patients to be treated more quickly in the case of an outbreak or pandemic. 

“Our independently developed vaccines have already proven their competitiveness in the global market by acquiring WHO PQ certification,” said Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience. “With these vaccines, we will continue expanding our global presence, contributing to Korea’s biotech industry growth, and improving global public health.”

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In addition to its work with SKYCELLflu, SK bioscience is also expanding commercial exportation of its other vaccines, also produced at L HOUSE. The company will increase supply of its SKYVaricella vaccine for chickenpox to both Latin America and Southeast Asia. Additionally, the company is seeking to enter Asian markets with its shingles vaccine SKYZoster, and is addressing typhoid with its SKYTyphoid vaccine, which received WHO PQ certification in 2024.