Sunflower Therapeutics (Sunflower), a public benefit corporation transforming global access to protein manufacturing capacity for diverse applications, today announced receipt of the first milestone payment in the ongoing commercialization of a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in collaboration with SK bioscience, a global innovative vaccine and biotech company committed to promoting human health from prevention to cure. This milestone marks the successful completion and demonstration of a tech transfer package for multiple HPV serotypes and is the first in a series tied to commercialization of the 10-valent HPV vaccine candidate. 

Sunflower and SK bioscience’s collaboration seeks to address HPV, a critical global public health crisis. Cervical cancer, which is caused by certain strains of HPV, presents a significant public health threat to women, with a disproportionate burden on the African continent. In 2018, 19 of the top 20 countries worldwide with the highest burden of cervical cancer were in Africa. Globally, it is estimated that HPV immunization programs reached only 12% of young adolescent girls. This milestone is the first in a series leading to manufacturing scale-up, clinical evaluation, and commercialization of a cost-effective 10-valent HPV vaccine.  

“Our investment in and collaboration with Sunflower Therapeutics reflects our commitment to building strong partnerships for global health,” said Hyun-jun Youn, Vice President and Head of Business Development 1 Office at SK bioscience. “Together, we aim to develop safe and cost-effective vaccines that can broaden access where they are most needed.” 

Through this collaboration, Sunflower and SK aim to develop an efficient manufacturing process for a 10-valent HPV vaccine using the alternative protein expression host Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris). Sunflower’s comprehensive strain engineering platform was used to generate and optimize P. pastoris strains expressing each of the 10 serotypes. This milestone represents the successful tech transfer of these strains to SK bioscience. 

“By completing this tech transfer milestone, we’ve shown how our engineered yeast host and biomanufacturing approach can support real-world vaccine production,” said Dr. Kerry R. Love, Founder, CEO and President of Sunflower Therapeutics. “Together with SK bioscience, we are making meaningful progress toward an affordable HPV vaccine that can expand access where it is most urgently needed.”