SK bioscience brings onboard global vaccine expert for global foray

SK bioscience has appointed Dr. Harry Kleanthous, former Senior Program Officer in Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as Executive Vice President of its vaccine R&D strategy and external innovation. The Korean vaccine and biotech company aims to accelerate its entry into the U.S. through the recruit.

Dr. Kleanthous, an expert in the vaccine field, has devoted 30 years to the vaccine industry in both biotech & large biopharma, serving as Vice President Research at Acambis, and Head of Research for North America at Sanofi Pasteur, according to SK bioscience on Friday.

SK bioscience earlier named Dr. Hun Kim, Chief Technical Officer at SK bioscience, as Chief Executive Officer of SK bioscience USA to be established in Boston early next year. Kim will be responsible for leading the company’s business globalization effort, development of innovative platforms and future growth engines, and recruitment of additional global talents.

SK bioscience also appointed Dr. Sally Choe, an expert in drug review, clinical pharmacology, and medical product development, as Head of Global Clinical Development and Regulatory Affairs of the Company. Dr. Choe joins SK bioscience from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where she most recently served as the Super Office Director of the Office of Generic Drugs. Prior to her 12 years of tenure at the FDA, she worked at Parexel Regulatory Consulting firm as Senior Director, and also worked in large biopharma including Bristol Myers Squib and Pfizer.

“As we have successfully developed our own Covid-19 vaccine and carried out CDMO business during the pandemic, we attract significant global interest,” said SK bioscience CEO Ahn Jae-yong, adding, “We hope to be more globally competitive, comparable to major biopharmaceutical companies worldwide through strategic R&D investments.”

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