SK Bioscience’s SKYCovione proven effective against omicron virus subvariants as booster shot

 SKYCovione, South Korea’s first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine developed by SK Bioscience Co., has been proven to be effective against coronavirus omicron subvariants when administered as a booster shot, a state-run research center said Friday.

The Center for Infectious Disease Research (CIDR) said it has confirmed through research SKYCovione’s efficacy in neutralizing the BA.1 and BA.5 coronavirus omicron subvariants when used after two previous primary vaccine jabs.

Currently, SKYCovione is allowed to be administered as one of the two main inoculations. Authorities could potentially allow it to be used as a booster shot based on the results.

When inoculated with SKYCovione as a booster shot, the virus neutralizing effect in subjects was 51.9 times higher against the BA.1 subvariant and 28.2 times higher against the BA.5 subvariant, the center said.

Kwon Joon-wook, head of the CIDR, said the center “verified the possibility in using domestically developed vaccines as booster shots.”

SKYCovione is a recombinant-protein vaccine based on novel two-component nanoparticles that can maximize the immune effect. It was jointly developed with the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington.