SK bioscience, South Korea-based vaccine and biotech company, has broken ground on a major expansion of its vaccine manufacturing plant, L HOUSE, located in Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea. The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Cheol-woo Lee, Governor Gyeongsangbuk-do, GiChang Kwon, Mayor Andong City, Pascal Robin, General Manager and Representative Director of Vaccines at Sanofi Korea, and Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience.

This expansion aims to strengthen its manufacturing capabilities for global supply by adding two floors to the existing vaccine manufacturing department in L HOUSE, which will create approximately 4,200㎡ of new space.

The new, expanded space will serve as a production base for the next-generation pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate 'GBP410' (also known as SP0202), jointly developed by SK bioscience and Sanofi, who are co-investing in the expansion.

In addition to facility expansion, SK bioscience plans to quickly obtain cGMP (Current Good Manufacturing Practice) certification for the new facility, which is the standard for pharmaceutical manufacturing and quality management in the United States, to enhance global competitiveness. L HOUSE has already obtained EU-GMP certification from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2021, making it the first domestic vaccine manufacturing facility to do so.

SK bioscience and Sanofi plan to utilise the expanded manufacturing facility to accelerate the successful introduction of GBP410 into the global market, including United States, Europe, and South Korea.