SK Bioscience announced on Wednesday that it has signed a funding agreement with the Light Foundation, a public-private partnership established to improve global health equity. The agreement will support the initial clinical costs for RSM01, the company’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) prevention monoclonal antibody candidate.
The contract was secured after SK Bioscience was selected as a recipient of the Light Foundation’s Product Development Assistance (PDA) funding. This grant provides the company with up to 4 billion KRW (about 2.7 million USD) in development costs, the maximum amount available per project. SK Bioscience plans to use this support to accelerate the phase 1b clinical trial of RSM01.
Prior to this, SK Bioscience had signed a technology transfer agreement with Gates MRI, a research institution under the Gates Foundation, for RSM01 in early February.
RSM01 was designed by Adimab, an American biotech company, in collaboration with Gates MRI, which completed the initial research and phase 1a clinical trial. Through this technology transfer, SK Bioscience will spearhead all subsequent stages, from the phase 1b clinical trial through process development and commercialization.
This candidate is engineered to provide long-lasting protection against RSV throughout the epidemic season with a single dose for newborns and infants. Preclinical studies have shown its effectiveness in inhibiting RSV infection and replication.
The technology transfer agreement grants SK Bioscience exclusive rights to supply RSM01 globally, including in developed nations.
RSV is a primary respiratory virus that causes severe lower respiratory tract infections in young children, leading to significant hospitalizations and healthcare burdens worldwide.
Park Jin-seon, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SK Bioscience, stated that this funding agreement validates the potential of the technology we acquired from Gates MRI. It will leverage the world-class research and development (R&D) and production capabilities to develop a globally competitive product.