SK Bioscience wins gov't order to distribute Covid-19 vaccines in S. Korea

[Photo provided by SK Bioscience Co.]

SK Bioscience Co. won an order from the South Korean government to manage and operate the Covid-19 vaccine supply chain system in the country that aims to kick off nation-wide vaccinations next month.

Korea’s Public Procurement Service said Thursday it awarded SK Bioscience, a biopharmaceutical firm under SK Group, a 50.8-billion-won ($46 million) contract to set up and operate a Covid-19 vaccine logistics system.

SK Bioscience will reportedly be in charge of developing and managing a cold chain for Covid-19 vaccines, or a network of cold storage rooms and refrigerated delivery vehicles for the temperature-sensitive vaccines.

Both the company and the public agency declined to disclose the name of the vaccine that SK Bioscience will handle, while industry observers suspected the firm would be responsible for only one or two of the vaccines the country has purchased.

The Korean government so far has secured Covid-19 vaccines of a total 56 million people. Separately, it is in negotiation to secure additional doses for 20 million people from U.S drug manufacturer Novavax.

The country plans to begin Covid-19 vaccinations next month at the earliest, with Pfizer’s vaccine floated as the first batch of the government’s rollout.

SK Bioscience is a wholly owned subsidiary of SK Chemicals. It is a contract manufacturer of Covid-19 vaccines for AstraZeneca and Novavax.

On Friday, shares of SK Chemicals closed down 2.03 percent at 410,500 won, after four straight days of gains. SK Bioscience is not listed.

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