[THE INVESTOR] LG Chem said on June 7 that it has received a US$12.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a new polio vaccine.

The grant will be used to expand LG Chem’s facility in Korea and conduct trials of its new polio vaccine overseas, the firm said in a statement.

Since 2014, LG Chem has been developing an inactivated vaccine for polio, with a phase 2 clinical trials planned.

LG Chem said it plans to produce the inactivated vaccine for polio in 2020 after receiving an approval from the World Health Organization.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)