These awardees have been selected by the IVI Award Selection Committee of 12 world-leading vaccine and health experts. Dr. Christian Mandl, chair of the committee (and IVI’s Scientific Advisory Group), said, “We have reviewed the qualifications of some of the most recognized vaccinologists and global health leaders. The selection of these awardees is testament to their extraordinary contributions to breakthrough discoveries in vaccinology, the development of novel vaccines, and the invaluable impact of these vaccines on the health of people around the world.”
Mr. Jaeyong Ahn, President & CEO of SK bioscience, said, “I would like to congratulate and thank all the recipients of this year’s Park MahnHoon Award. Inheriting the spirit of our late Vice Chairman Park MahnHoon, who strived to promote global health by developing the typhoid vaccine in collaboration with IVI and other vaccines against infectious diseases, SK bioscience will continue to fulfill its responsibility to humanity.”
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About the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is a non-profit international organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health.
IVI’s current portfolio includes vaccines at all stages of pre-clinical and clinical development for infectious diseases that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, such as cholera, typhoid, chikungunya, shigella, salmonella, schistosomiasis, hepatitis E, HPV, COVID-19, and more. IVI developed the world’s first low-cost oral cholera vaccine, pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO), and developed a new-generation typhoid conjugate vaccine that also achieved WHO prequalification in early 2024.
IVI is headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea with a Europe Regional Office in Sweden, an Africa Regional Office in Rwanda, a Country Office in Austria, and a Country and Project Office in Kenya. IVI additionally co-founded the Hong Kong Jockey Club Global Health Institute in Hong Kong and hosts Collaborating Centers in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Madagascar. 39 countries and the WHO are members of IVI, and the governments of the Republic of Korea, Sweden, India, Finland, and Thailand provide state funding. For more information, please visit https://www.ivi.int.
About Dr. Park MahnHoon
Dr. Park MahnHoon (1957-2021), the late former Vice Chairman of SK bioscience, is a vaccine pioneer who is credited for elevating South Korea’s vaccine R&D capabilities up to the global standard while leading the company’s vaccine and R&D projects. Dr. Park made significant contributions to the development of new vaccines including the joint development of an innovative pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) with SANOFI-Pasteur, and the development of a novel typhoid conjugate vaccine (licensed in Korea in 2022) in collaboration with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation In addition, he took the lead in establishing Korea’s vaccine sovereignty through the rapid development and localization of safe and effective vaccines based on cell culture technology. The world’s first cell-culture quadrivalent flu vaccine (2015), a pneumococcal vaccine (2016), and the world’s second shingles vaccine (2017) from SK bioscience are some of major achievements of Dr. Park who devoted his entire life to vaccine research.