SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SK bioscience, a global innovative vaccine and biotech company committed to promoting human health from prevention to cure across the globe, today announced that Dr. Harry Kleanthous, formerly Senior Program Officer in Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), has joined the Company as Executive Vice President of Vaccine R&D Strategy and External Innovation.
SK bioscience Appoints New Executives towards Global Business Growth. (Left)Dr. Harry Kleanthous, (Right)Dr. Sally Choe
Dr. Harry 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, where he developed innovative platforms and developed pipelines targeting medically important infectious diseases. He majored in Microbiology and Biochemistry at Manchester Metro University, U.K., and obtained his Ph.D. in Medical Molecular Microbiology at the University of London.
SK bioscience is accelerating its entry into the U.S. with the appointment of Dr. Harry Kleanthous. The Company earlier appointed Dr. Hun Kim, Chief Technical Officer at SK bioscience, as Chief Executive Officer of SK bioscience USA, Inc., a new entity that will be established early next year. He will be responsible for leading the Company's business globalization effort, development of innovative platforms and future growth engines, and accelerate sustainable growth through recruitment of additional global talents, starting with the appointment of Dr. Harry Kleanthous. Dr. Kim joined SK Chemicals in 2008 and served as Head of the Bio Office from 2014 and then as Head of VAX Development at our corporate HQ from 2016. He was appointed as SK bioscience's first Chief Technical Officer since its establishment in 2018. He closely cooperated with key global partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), and successfully led numerous R&D projects including Korea's first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine 'SKYCovione'.
The headquarters of SK bioscience USA, Inc. will be located in Boston, a vibrant center of biotechnology, large biopharma, and academia ecosystem. The office will focus on new business opportunities with various industry partners and governmental organizations and will continue to build its strong relationships with CEPI and BMGF. It will build a U.S.-based network or 'bio-cluster' of partnerships in its pursuit of novel and innovative technologies for transfer to SK bioscience's R&D centers in South Korea, for early de-risking and strengthening its pipeline.
In support of expanding its globalization efforts, SK bioscience has named 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. In this role, she will be leading the Company's clinical development and execution of innovative products and regulatory affairs to advance SK bioscience's global competitiveness.
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 (OGD). 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 (BMS) and Pfizer. She majored in Electrical Engineering at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and holds a Master's and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from the University of Michigan.
SK bioscience plans to secure advanced level capabilities in the testing and rollout of novel biopharmaceuticals, and to grow as one of the world's leading biotech companies.
Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience said, "We are delighted to have Dr. Harry Kleanthous and Dr. Sally Choe join our company. As we have successfully developed our own COVID-19 vaccine and carried out CDMO business during the COVID-19 pandemic, we attract significant global interest," adding, "We hope to be more globally competitive, comparable to major bio-pharmaceutical companies worldwide through strategic R&D investments."
About SK bioscience
SK bioscience is a global innovative vaccine and biotech company, committed to global pandemic preparedness in vaccine development and manufacturing for more equitable access. In leveraging the strengths of cutting-edge vaccine development technologies, SK bioscience is dedicated to promoting human health from prevention to cure across the globe. Through collaborations with domestic and international governments, regulatory agencies, healthcare providers, doctors and medical experts, SK bioscience has firmly established globally certified R&D and manufacturing technologies. All SK colleagues are passionately committed to providing better public healthcare solutions and offering high-quality vaccines and therapeutics to those who need them.
For further information, please visit: https://www.skbioscience.co.kr/en/main.
Contact
SK bioscience Communications Team
Changhyun Jin, jin99@sk.com
Jeannie S. Pak, j.pak@sk.com
Tae-Gyun Kim, taegyunkim@sk.com
