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| International flight passengers wear face shields, facemasks and protective gloves as they head to a bus after arriving at Incheon International Airport, Nov. 30. Yonhap |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Samsung Biologics, SK Bioscience, Celltrion, Seegene and other Korean biotech firms are responding to the latest COVID-19 variant called Omicron at a time when the new mutation could become an even greater concern than the Delta variant, according to companies Wednesday.
After the advent of the new mutation last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the strain as a "variant of concern" (VOC) due to its unusually large number of mutations and rapid spread.
As many healthcare experts express concern that the new mutation could be more contagious than the Delta variant and more resistant to vaccines and treatments, local bio companies are accelerating the development of new products that can effectively respond to the Omicron variant.
Speculations are being made that Samsung Biologics, a manufacturer of U.S. biotech company Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, could also manufacture the latter's upcoming version of the drug at its plant.
Moderna already announced it could produce and ship a modified version of vaccines that are effective against the Omicron variant within 100 days.
Samsung is currently manufacturing Moderna's vaccines at its Songdo plant after the two companies inked a contract during a South Korea-U.S. vaccine partnership event held in Washington, D.C., in May.
Moderna's vaccines produced here are used for both the Korean and overseas markets. In regard to the speculation, a Samsung Biologics official said, "We are not at liberty to comment."
SK Bioscience, which is currently developing its own COVID-19 vaccines, is also closely watching the situation of the spreading Omicron variant. The company is expected to respond as soon as the analysis of information on the latest variant is completed.
Celltrion, the only Korean company that succeeded in developing a COVID-19 treatment, launched a project to develop a new version capable of responding to the variant.
The company said it is developing an inhalable treatment combining its monoclonal antibody treatment Regkirona and CT-P63. The company already received an approval by the European Commission for its Regkirona COVID-19 treatment.
Among the Korean companies, developers of diagnostic kits are spearheading the response. SD Biosensor, best known for producing at-home COVID-19 test kits, said Tuesday that its test kits are effective in detecting all COVID-19 variants. The firm said users of its at-home test kit can get a result within 15 minutes showing whether or not they are positive to the Omicron variant.
Molecular diagnosis company Seegene also said its polymerase-chain-reaction-based test recognizes the mutations within four hours. The company said its diagnostic product can detect the variant in the very first stage of screening, helping public health officials rapidly isolate and contact-trace people who are infected.
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