AstraZeneca’s love for Korea expressed through investment

Signs a CMO deal with SK Bioscience for Phase III COVID-19 vaccine

Constantly investing in Korean industry from years back and delivering results

A British-based multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is expanding its investment in the South Korean pharmaceutical industry.

 

Recently, the company inked a deal with SK Bioscience on supplying COVID-19 vaccine as it saw the promising potential of the Korean industry.

 

AstraZeneca’s investment on the Korean pharmaceutical industry has continued for years.

 

The company had various instances recently, where it delivered the promise of investment made years ago and made new partnership with the Korean industry.

 

Among all global pharmaceutical companies operating in Korea, the British company is considered one of the most active investor of the Korean pharmaceutical industry.

 

The Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) and AstraZeneca Korea announced yesterday that the seventh Anticancer Research Support Program has selected four new open innovation research plans.

 

The long-term project has selected overall 28 research topics so far, or four cases annually for last seven years since 2014.

 

The anticancer research support program is an event the KHIDI and AstraZeneca Korea jointly organize to provide support on promising basic science research topics related to preclinical test or translational research to expand open innovation in Korean healthcare industry and strengthen Korea’s pharmaceutical industry competitiveness.

 

And on July 21, the global company signed a partnership agreement on the internationally most sought after COVID-19 vaccine.

 

AstraZeneca, SK Bioscience and Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) have agreed to collaborate on globally supplying AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine in development (ADZ1222).

 

AZD1222 is the first one to enter the Phase III clinical trial among all COVID-19 vaccines in development.

 

According to the agreement, SK Bioscience would be one of global partners to serve a role of a CMO manufacturing drug substance and processing ‘fill and finish’ of the vaccine.

 

The ministry would expedite the both companies complying the agreement and lead the discussion on procuring the vaccine in Korea.

 

Years of investment promises delivered The AZD1222 partnership is actually a follow-up action of the MOU signed in December last year aimed to collaborate in enhancing the Korean biohealth industry development.

 

The company kept its word on the six-month-old promise.

 

Last year, AstraZeneca signed MOU with four partners including Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), KHIDI, Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization (KoreaBio) and Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA).

 

These MOUs were products of five years of investment and collaboration plans made in June 2016.

 

The symposium on accelerating big data and AI-based new drug development convened by AstraZeneca and the British Embassy Seoul in July 2019, and a conference on supporting Korean bio companies entering the Chinese market organized by AstraZeneca and Korea Biomedicine Industry Association (KoBIA) in September 2019 were also part of the 2016 investment plan.

 

Another major collaboration between the global company and Korean industry took place in January 2018.

 

AstraZeneca and SK Biotek signed a partnership deal in pharmaceutical manufacturing and production.

 

And as a result, antidiabetic drugs manufactured by the Korean company were supplied to three million diabetic patients in 98 countries around the world.

 

The industry insider commented, “AstraZeneca has already made multiple investment deals with Korean companies like the COVID-19 vaccine.

 

It’s one of a very few global companies considers Korean pharmaceutical and bio industry as their partner.”