SK Chemicals said Thursday that it has received the “2017 New Drug Grand Prize” from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

“This is recognition of SK Chemicals’ innovative R&D achievements in the biotechnology field such as vaccines and blood products,” the company said in a statement.

Ahn Jae-yong, head of SK Chemicals vaccine business department, accepting the 2017 New Drug Grand Prize on Thursday

SK Chemicals _SK케미칼 has commercialized Skycellflu, the world's first quadrivalent cell culture flu vaccine, and developed Afstyla2, the next-generation hemophilia treatment, which became the first Korean biopharmaceutical drug to enter the U.S. and Europe.

Skycellflu is a next-generation vaccine that can prevent four kinds of influenza viruses. It can prevent two kinds of influenza A virus (H1N1, H3N2) and two types of B virus (Yamagata, Victoria).

Afstyla2 is the world’s first recombinant Factor VIII blood coagulation medication, which is a single-chain product. The existing hemophilia treatment was a combination of two separate proteins, but Afstyla2 completely combines the two proteins to improve stability and maintains continuous bleeding management when taken twice a week.

The company is also developing a vaccine against diseases such as pneumococci, cervical cancer, and childhood enteritis that have not become self-sufficient in Korea, while their shingles vaccine is waiting for the final marketing approval from the ministry.

“Since 2008, the company has concentrated on R&D capabilities for vaccine development and has accumulated differentiated technologies,” said Ahn Jae-yong _안재용, head of SK Chemicals vaccine business department. “We will contribute to the promotion of human health and the development of bio-industry by introducing more various vaccines in the future.”

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