- ‘SKYZoster®, ´ the world second developed herpes zoster vaccine secures 54% of the South Korean market share

- With proven immunogenicity and safety, SK bioscience also plans to pioneer the herpes zoster market globally

SK bioscience, a global innovative vaccine and biotech company committed to promoting human health from prevention to cure, announced that the company’s world second developed herpes zoster vaccine, ‘SKYZoster´ has secured a new market share record for four consecutive quarters in 2022.

According to the IQVIA data, a global market research institute, SKYZoster®’s South Korean market share last year was 54% based on sales volume, ranked top in the domestic herpes zoster vaccine market. The product’s market share was the largest in every quarter of the year, with 51% in the 1st quarter, 52% in the 2nd quarter, 56% in the 3rd quarter, and 57% in the 4th quarter.

Based on proven immunogenicity, safety, and cost-effectiveness, SKYZoster has been sold more than 1 million doses only 2 years since its launching.

The results of the Phase III clinical trial, conducted with 824 adults over 50-year-olds at 8 domestic clinical institutions were shown that antibody titers against a varicella zoster virus increased by 2.75 times after vaccination of SKYZoster with demonstration of non-inferiority to the control vaccine.

The adverse reactions 6 weeks after the vaccination were similar to that of the control vaccine group, and no serious adverse reactions were reported after 26 weeks of the vaccination.

Furthermore, no serious adverse reactions were reported to 651 adults who had been administered SKYZoster® after observing them for 4 years, according to the survey result announced by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety(KMFDS).

SK bioscience also plans to expand the SKYZoster’s market share globally. Following obtaining the first global approval from Thailand in May 2020, SKYZoster was also approved by the Malaysia´s National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency in January.

In addition, SK bioscience plans to apply the WHO Prequalification(WHO PQ) of SKYZoster within this year.

Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience said, “The vaccination against herpes zoster is becoming more important than ever as the world rapidly ages. We expect that our self-developed SKYZoster will not just secure South Korea’s vaccine sovereignty but protect human health in the world.”