● Food & Drug Safety Minister Visits SK chemicals Vaccine Factory, “Andong L House”
- Minister Sohn Mun-gi observed the production line and quality management status for the world’s first quadrivalent cell-culture flu vaccine
- The minister promised to “spare no effort in providing policy support for development of vaccines by domestic pharmaceutical companies” and their advancement into global markets
Food and Drug Safety Minister Sohn Mun-gi visited SK chemicals’ vaccine factory L House in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, on Jan. 5, observing the production facilities and discussing public-private sector cooperation for global advancement of locally made vaccines, the company announced.
Minister Sohn’s visit to the factory, which has developed the world’s first quadrivalent cell-culture influenza vaccine, was aimed at ensuring a smooth supply of high-quality vaccine products. He was accompanied by Kim Young-ok, head of the Ministry’s Biopharmaceutical Policy Division, and Jeong Yong-ik, a senior official at the Ministry’s Planning and Coordination Office.
After looking around the vaccine production lines, the ministry officials met with SK chemicals’ President Park Mahn-hoon and Ahn Jae-yong, who heads the company’s vaccines division, and discussed the following matters: ▲ current state of vaccine development and related difficulties, ▲ government support related to WHO prequalification (PQ), and ▲ ways to help promote vaccine exports.
“Given the latest occurrence of new types of infectious diseases, it is critically important to ensure the production and supply of vaccines for prevention of such diseases. So, I would like to ask you to put your best efforts in developing vaccines,” Minister Sohn said at the meeting. “The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will continue to provide policy support necessary for the development of vaccines.”
SK chemicals President Park told the minister that the company will do its best to develop new vaccines in conjunction with the government “from the perspective of building a national safety network.” “We will steadily develop premium vaccines by overcoming technology barriers. By so doing, we will be able to boost the domestic self-sufficiency rate of vaccines and advance into global markets,” he said.
L House has advanced technology and production facilities for vaccine production, such as △ cell culture, △ bacterial culture, △ gene recombination, and △ protein conjugation. SK chemicals commercially launched the world`s first quadrivalent cell-culture flu vaccine named “SKY Cell Flu Quadrivalent” last year. Through the Andong L House, it also domestically supplied flu vaccines for vaccination of 5 million people. The cell-culture flu vaccine has the advantage that it does not need to use eggs in the process of cultivating viruses from animal-derived cells. In addition, vaccines can be produced in two to three months after securing the strain, making it possible to respond more quickly when strains such as swine flu or Hong Kong flu become prevalent.
