SK pharmteco Collaborates with Axle Informatics and the National Institutes of Health to Advance Rare Disease Gene Therapy Programs

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif., May 07, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SK pharmteco today announced a strategic partnership with Axle Informatics and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance the development of gene therapies for rare diseases. This partnership, focused on viral vector programs, underscores SK pharmteco’s commitment to the rare disease sector and its role as a key technical partner for leading research institutions.

As a subcontractor to the NIH, SK pharmteco is working with Axle Informatics, the NIH’s primary contractor, to support efforts to accelerate the translation of academic research into clinical practice. The collaboration pairs SK pharmteco’s advanced manufacturing capabilities with leading principal investigators (PIs) at the NIH to address significant unmet medical needs.

"Collaborating with the NIH and Axle Informatics marks an important step in our efforts to support patients with rare diseases,” said John Lee, Global Head of Viral Vector at SK pharmteco. “Rare disease programs often operate under significant development and funding constraints, making reliable technical execution and flexible partnerships especially important. By working closely with Axle Informatics and NIH investigators, we are applying our lentiviral manufacturing and analytical expertise to help advance these programs toward the clinic for patients with serious unmet needs.”

The inaugural program under this partnership focuses on producing lentiviral vectors (LVV) to treat rare inherited blood and metabolic disorders. SK pharmteco has worked closely with NIH investigators to advance this effort. As part of that work, SK pharmteco manufactured drug substance intended for future ex vivo transduction of patients’ CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells and managed batch-release testing, with most analytical assays performed in-house at its specialized laboratories.

“This effort illustrates how integrated partnerships can accelerate the advancement of translational research into clinical outcomes,” said Gary Mays, Chief Operating Officer at Axle Informatics. “Axle is focused on connecting capabilities across the NIH environment, and our collaboration with SK pharmteco adds essential manufacturing strength to help NIH advance promising gene therapies for patients in need.”

This partnership highlights SK pharmteco’s ability to serve as a strong technical partner for both emerging biotech firms and large-scale public institutions. It also reflects SK pharmteco’s broader efforts to support rare disease innovators through partnership models designed to help advance complex programs into the clinic. By providing specialized viral vector development, manufacturing, and analytical support, SK pharmteco continues to position itself as a partner for academic investigators, public institutions, non-profits, and emerging biotech companies working to translate promising therapies into the clinic. 

This collaboration was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

About SK pharmteco
SK pharmteco is a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with production sites, research & development facilities, and analytical laboratories across the U.S., Europe, and South Korea. The company’s core capabilities center on small molecules, peptides, and viral vectors, providing the specialized expertise needed to bring complex therapies to market. Through these pillars, SK pharmteco supports biopharmaceutical partners of all sizes with comprehensive development and manufacturing solutions worldwide. SK pharmteco is a subsidiary of SK Inc. (KRX: 034730) (SK), the strategic investment company for SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate.

Contact:
Keith Bowermaster, APR, CCMP
Communications Consultant
keith.bowermaster@skpt.com