South Korean biotech firm SK Bioscience said Friday it will continue to supply its varicella vaccine to Latin America until 2027 as it secured additional orders from an international health organization under the United Nations.

SK Bioscience’s chickenpox vaccine SkyVaricella will be distributed to Latin American countries through the Pan American Health Organization, which procures large quantities of vaccines in the region. The volume of the order has not been decided.

The firm made a foray into the Latin American market by providing 37.4 billion won ($25.6 million) worth of SkyVaricella vaccines for three years after winning its first order in the PAHO’s varicella vaccine bid in 2022.

In 2019, the live varicella virus vaccine was certified by the World Health Organization’s prequalification certification, a requirement to be an eligible supplier for international organizations.

“The success behind SkyVaricella is our proven ability to stabilize production capacity and capabilities," said Park Jin-seon, director of marketing and business development at SK Bioscience. “We will continue to expand our presence in overseas markets with a diverse range of vaccine portfolios.”

According to recent research by a global firm Market Research Intellect, the market for chickenpox is expected to record an average annual growth rate of 6.3 percent, amounting to approximately 8.3 trillion won by 2031.

By Park Soo-bin (spark@heraldcorp.com)