SK Bioscience has restructured its research support organization, including recruiting key talent, to enhance the execution of its research and development projects and strengthen global competitiveness. The company said Wednesday it has appointed Vice President Ma Sang-ho as the new head of the Research Support Office within its Bio Research Division.
Ma is regarded as an expert with extensive experience across Korea's pharmaceutical and biotech industry, including at the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, GC Biopharma and Jungwae Pharmaceutical, where he worked on nonclinical and clinical development of drugs and vaccines. SK Bioscience plans to leverage Ma's field experience and expertise to elevate its R&D capabilities.
"The recruitment of Ma was carried out to strengthen R&D project management functions and open innovation, and to build a support system spanning the entire cycle from research planning to regulatory response and nonclinical operations," a company official said. "We will increase the development speed and completeness of our mid-to-long-term pipeline and strengthen the step-by-step execution of major projects."
Alongside the talent recruitment, SK Bioscience has also established new research management processes. The company plans to organize teams under the Research Support Office — including a Research Planning Team, Bio Regulatory Management Team, Nonclinical Support (NCS) Team and Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) Team — to pursue integrated and cohesive research management. The company aims to secure development competitiveness for major pipeline products such as its next-generation pneumococcal vaccine, universal COVID-19 vaccine and Ebola vaccine by reinforcing its research support functions.
Meanwhile, SK Bioscience is accelerating its mid-to-long-term growth strategy. In January, the company relocated its headquarters and research institute to a global Research & Process Development (R&PD) Center, establishing a hub that organically connects R&D, process development, quality analysis and business development. Development of its core pipeline is also gaining momentum, with the global Phase 3 clinical trial of GBP410 — a 21-valent pneumococcal vaccine being co-developed with Sanofi — progressing smoothly. Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and clinical trial entries for its COVID-19 vaccine, next-generation pneumococcal vaccine and avian influenza vaccine are also expected to proceed sequentially within the year.
