SK bioscience is ramping up its global flu vaccine business, shipping 750,000 doses of its cell-based influenza shot, SKYCellflu, to Southeast Asia and Latin America in the first half of the year.
The latest export marks the company's second major shipment to the Southern Hemisphere, following an initial supply to Thailand last year.
SK bioscience’s flu vaccine SKYCellflu being shipped from its vaccine manufacturing facility, L HOUSE, for export to the Southern Hemisphere. (Courtesy of SK bioscience)
By securing year-round demand, SK bioscience is optimizing production cycles, lowering costs, and strengthening its position in a $7 billion global flu vaccine market projected to grow 8.5 percent annually through 2030, according to Grand View Research.
SKYCellflu is the world’s first WHO prequalified (PQ) cell-based flu vaccine. Unlike traditional egg-based flu shots, which carry the risk of viral mutations during production, SK bioscience says cell-culture vaccines offer faster, more consistent manufacturing and better strain matching with circulating flu viruses.
With flu-related hospitalizations rising in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, SK is pushing SKYCellflu as a cost-effective alternative for governments expanding their immunization programs. By shifting production cycles to meet flu season demand in both hemispheres, the company aims to keep its vaccine manufacturing facilities running year-round, improving both supply stability and cost efficiency.
Beyond flu vaccines, SK bioscience is expanding exports of other products in its portfolio. The company has been supplying its varicella vaccine, SKYVaricella, to Latin America and Southeast Asia while also working to enter Asian markets with its shingles vaccine, SKYZoster. Meanwhile, it is targeting regions with high typhoid incidence, such as Africa and South Asia, with its typhoid conjugate vaccine, SKYTyphoid, which received WHO PQ certification last year.