● SK Chemical & International Vaccine Institue Committed to Children’s Health in Developing Nations

- Pledge to co-develop typhoid vaccine during International Vaccine Institute(IVI)’s Sajin Lee’s visit to
  SK Chemical
- Research underway with pre-clinical trials utilizing current IVI technology
- Sights set on WHO (World Health Organization) approval & manufacturing TEN million vaccine doses
  annually following clinical trials next year
- Pledge to devote efforts toward health promotion with vaccines & maintain IVI partnership



The meeting with Chairperson Lee of the International Vaccine Institute resulted in a collaborative pact that calls for the stabilization of health in developing nations through the development and supply of vaccines.

SK Chemical’s statement on the 30th revealed that the formal visit to Ecolab, located in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province by fourteen IVI members, including Sajin Lee, was an opportunity to share the current development status of a viable typhoid vaccine and discuss ways to expand cooperation in other areas.

IVI was officially launched in 1997 as a non-profit organization to protect all citizens, especially children, of developing nations from transmissible diseases through the development and supply of safe, effective and affordable vaccines.

The IVI is recognized as South Korea’s first ever, domestically-based international organization and has even received significant attention after designating Korean American, Dr. Jerome H. Kim(55), also known as Hanshik Kim, as the successor to the seat of secretary general.

SK Chemical’s MOU with the IVI in 2012 led to a formal contract calling for technology transfer and global distribution of a typhoid vaccine in April 2013, which formed the foundation for the collaborative development of the vaccine and its current pre-clinical testing.

Clinical trials are scheduled to begin next year and with the WHO-administered pre-qualification authorization, as many as ten million vaccine doses will be produced in SK Chemical’s Andong factory to ensure adequate vaccine distribution to impoverished and developing nations through the support of GAVI and UNICEF.

Acting IVI Secretary General, John Morahan, expressed his thoughts on the visit saying, “It is a sincere pleasure to partner with SK Chemical in bolstering the global standard on health; and our typhoid vaccine currently in development is guaranteed to save lives. Our unwavering collaboration will inspire new hope for improving the public health of impoverished and developing nations.”

Chairman Inseok Lee of SK Chemical expressed his devotion to a continued partnership to IVI’s Sajin Lee responding, “It is the mission of SK Chemical’s vaccine project to better the health of all our neighbors around the globe and it is a great honor to witness the fruition of that mission catalyzed by our cooperative efforts in producing this vaccine.”



Typhoid fever is induced by a bacterium called Salmonella Typhi. It is a disease transmitted through the intake of food and water contaminated by the fecal matter of those already afflicted. Cases of this disease rarely occur in developed nations, yet impoverished countries suffering from substandard water and sewage infrastructure and poor sanitation practices experience a far more real presence of the disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) based in the U.S., typhoid fever has become endemic, with approximately 21 million afflicted and nearly 200,000 deaths.

Last August, SK Chemical’s Andong vaccine manufacturing center, or the L House, received GMP approval from the Korea FDA, the final step in preparing for the vaccine’s production. SK Chemical is committed to producing the typhoid vaccine and entering the global market through a co-development and supply contract with the France-based Sanofi Group’s vaccine expert Sanofi Pasteur for a new pneumonia vaccine.