SK bioscience, Gates Foundation to launch AI-driven vaccine platform

SK bioscience headquarters in Incheon / Courtesy of SK bioscience

SK bioscience said Thursday it will lead an artificial intelligence (AI) project funded by the Gates Foundation aimed at speeding up decision-making in vaccine development.

The Research Optimization & Trial Outcome Recommender (ROTOR) project will build an AI platform that analyzes clinical and scientific data generated during vaccine development to help researchers decide how to advance a candidate vaccine. Global health nonprofit PATH and consulting firm Slalom will also take part, the company said.

In drug development, companies typically decide whether to move into large, costly Phase 3 trials based on Phase 2 results. That decision is harder for many vaccines, including rotavirus vaccines, because scientists often lack a reliable biological marker — a correlate of protection — that predicts whether a vaccine will work, or because lab tests produce inconsistent results.

SK bioscience said the AI platform is meant to make that process more scientific and reduce costly guesswork.

The platform will initially be built and tested using rotavirus vaccine data from SK bioscience and PATH, with the aim of eventually helping vaccine developers in lower-income countries and expanding global vaccine access.

SK bioscience has previously worked with the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), among other public health bodies.

It recently signed a licensing deal with the CDC for an injectable rotavirus vaccine and is separately developing an RSV antibody treatment with the Gates Foundation's research institute.

"This project represents a new approach to reducing uncertainty in vaccine development through AI," SK bioscience CEO Ahn Jae-yong said, adding that the company aims to improve vaccine access worldwide through the partnership.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.