Asian Tech Press (Apr. 25) -- South Korea's president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday visited SK Bioscience Co., the developer of the country's first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine.

In a meeting held on Monday at SK Bioscience in Seongnam, south of Seoul, Yoon said, "This research laboratory carries the economy, public health and security of our country," and emphasized that national-level assistance will be provided for vaccine development.

Yoon also mentioned his visit to SK Bioscience's Andong plant in September last year, and thanked the R&D staff for the progress of COVID-19 vaccine that has been made in less than a year.

SK Bioscience announced on the same day that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate GBP510, which is under development, has shown better immune response than comparator vaccines such as AstraZeneca in phase III clinical trials.

Yoon emphasized that the new government will do its best to provide all assistance to vaccine and therapeutic drug developers, including SK Bioscience.