● SK chemicals’ Innovative R&D Works Win SK Group’s Recognition

- SK chemicals wins the Innovation Award at the SUPEX Awards.
- SK chemicals becomes the first company in Korea to export a pre-clinical technology.
- SK chemicals has thus proven its world-class R&D capability not only in developing
   synthetic and natural compounds, but in biopharmaceuticals as well.

All members in the audience at the SUPEX Awards ceremony stood up to applaud SK chemicals when it was named the winner of an award for its innovative R&D works.

On April 23, SK chemicals won the Innovation Award at the 2013 SUPEX Awards held at SK Seorin. The award was granted in recognition of the company’s contribution to enhancing the whole SK Group’s potential for growth with its innovative works.

The Innovation Awards celebrate advanced R&D achievements. SK chemicals became the winner because it succeeded in 2009 in developing NBP601, a new recombinant bio drug* designed to treat Type-A hemophilia. SK chemicals became the first company in Korea’s history to export its technology overseas, i.e., to CSL,* a multinational corporation, in its pre-clinical phase.

CSL, now holding an exclusive distributorship over NBP601 worldwide except in Korea, has completed the first phase of the clinical trial of the drug in the United States and Europe. As the third phase of clinical trials is on its way, the company is building a base for manufacturing the drug.

Kim Hun-taek, Director of the Office of Pharmaceutical Research at SK chemicals who received the award on behalf of the company, addressed the audience: “This award indicates that the SK Group has recognized SK chemicals’ capability for developing new bio drugs that possess market appeals. Based on our accumulated capability for researching and developing natural and synthetic drugs, we will continue to work hard to produce world-class bio drugs.”

The SUPEX Awards have been created to encourage all members of the SK Group to pursue the Group’s core values in their activities, i.e., “super excellence,” or the highest level of achievements that humans can attain. There are four types of SUPEX awards granted annually: namely, the Challenge, Innovation, Synergy, and Special Awards.

The cutting-edge technology of SK chemicals’ NBP601 was also recognized when it was named one of the Ten Korean New Technologies at the 2012 Korea Technology Awards, organized by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and hosted by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology.

Type-A hemophilia is a rare, genetic disease that makes it nearly impossible to stop the bleeding of a patient due to the patient’s lack of coagulation factors. There is about one in every 5,000 who is estimated to suffer from the disease.



[Caption:]Director Kim Hun-taek of the Office of Pharmaceutical Research at SK chemicals (second from the left) and the researchers on his team are sharing a happy moment over the award they received.

Terminology
*Pre-clinical phase:
A new drug in this phase is tested on animals before it is clinically administered to human subjects to get a preliminary estimate of its possible toxicity and harm. It is only after this pre-clinical or animal-testing phase that the three phases of the clinical trials of the drug can begin. In the first clinical trial phase, the drug is administered to human subjects and tested in terms of its absorbency, distribution, metabolic mechanisms, and excretion. In the second phase, the drug is tested to determine the right dosage and safety. In the third and final phase, the dosage is optimized.

*Bio drugs
Bio drugs refer to drugs made of bioactive substances, such as hormones, that are bio-engineered (e.g., through the DNA recombination technology, cell culturing, etc.) for mass-production. Well-known examples include insulin, growth hormones, interferon, and serum albumin. It has been difficult so far to secure sufficient amounts of highly sought-after bioactive substances for manufacturing the needed drugs. The increasing advancement of technology in this field, however, has led many researchers to produce successful results in researching and developing bio drugs.

About the Company
* CSL Limited (www.csl.com.au)
CSL Limited was founded in Melbourne, Australia, in 1916. The company now operates offices and subsidiaries in 27 countries around the world, including Europe and North America, employing over 10,000 people and specializing in the production of a wide range of bio drugs, including plasma-derived proteins and related recombinant proteins, vaccines, and so forth. The company also operates major production bases in Australia, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States. The company amassed USD 4.4 billion in revenue in 2012.