By Kim Boram
ANDONG, South Korea, Aug. 23 (Yonhap) — SK bioscience Co., a subsidiary of SK Group, announced Wednesday that it will produce and distribute 5 million doses of the cell-based influenza vaccine SKYCellflu across the country for the upcoming winter season.
The production of the prefilled syringe-typed vaccine has been resumed after it had been halted two years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“SK bioscience has obtained approval for its quadrivalent flu vaccine from South Korea’s drug authorities and shipped it from the company’s manufacturing facility at Andong,” the company stated in a press release. “The amount of the flu vaccine that SK bioscience will supply to South Korea from the end of this year to early next year is about 5 million doses.”
The vaccine will be available at local hospitals and medical centers next month.
This photo provided by SK bioscience Co. shows its influenza vaccine production facility, Andong L House, in Andong, some 192 kilometers south of Seoul. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
SK bioscience produced 10 million doses of SKYCellflu in 2020, but its production was suspended in the following year due to the pandemic. During the two-year period, the company focused on producing its coronavirus vaccine SKYCovione and other licensed vaccines from Novavax Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc.
SKYCellflu is designed to protect against four different flu viruses — two influenza A viruses and two influenza B viruses — declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) for this winter season in the northern hemisphere. It first came out as a cell culture-based trivalent influenza vaccine in 2015 and became the world’s first cell-based quadrivalent vaccine in 2016.
It is the only egg-free flu vaccine licensed for use in South Korea, according to SK bioscience. Cell-based vaccines generate flu viruses, or antigens, in cultured cells of mammalian origin instead of in hen’s eggs. This method of antigen production is faster and more stable than embryonic chicken eggs and eliminates the risk of egg allergen.
SK bioscience said SKYCellflu has been approved in 10 countries, including Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, and the company is also seeking approval in 10 more nations.
brk@yna.co.kr
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