Sunflower Therapeutics, a public benefit company dedicated to expanding global protein manufacturing for various applications, has announced that it has received its first milestone payment as part of its partnership with SK bioscience, a leading global company in vaccines and biotechnology. This payment follows the successful completion and transfer of the technology package for multiple human papillomavirus (HPV) types. This milestone represents the first step in a series of steps aimed at bringing a 10-valent HPV vaccine candidate to the market.
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The collaboration between Sunflower and SK bioscience aims to address HPV, a significant health challenge that leads to cervical cancer, particularly among women in Africa. In fact, 19 out of the 20 countries with the highest rates of cervical cancer are in Africa, and globally, only about 12 percent of young girls have been vaccinated against HPV. This milestone brings the partnership one step closer to scaling up manufacturing, conducting clinical trials, and finally making an affordable HPV vaccine available to those who need it most.
Hyun-jun Youn, Vice President and Head of Business Development at SK bioscience, stated that this partnership highlights SK bioscience’s commitment to global health through strong collaborations. He emphasized the shared goal of developing vaccines that are both safe and affordable, ensuring they reach the communities that need them the most.
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Sunflower Therapeutics and SK bioscience are working to create a more efficient manufacturing process for the 10-valent HPV vaccine using Pichia pastoris, an alternative method for producing proteins. Sunflower utilized its strain engineering platform to develop and refine yeast strains that can express each of the 10 HPV types. This milestone marks the successful transfer of these engineered strains to SK bioscience, allowing for further development and production.
Dr. Kerry R. Love, Founder, CEO, and President of Sunflower Therapeutics, pointed out that completing this transfer demonstrates the practical potential of their yeast-based biomanufacturing technology in supporting vaccine production. She expressed confidence in the progress made with SK bioscience toward delivering an affordable HPV vaccine that can be made available in areas where it is most urgently needed.
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