SK Bioscience selected to lead ROTOR project for AI-driven clinical decision support

Global health nonprofit PATH and IT consultancy Slalom join as partners; platform aims to boost vaccine development success rates and expand access in low- and middle-income countries

SK Bioscience's global R&PD Center in Songdo. [SK Bioscience]
SK Bioscience's global R&PD Center in Songdo. [SK Bioscience]

SK Bioscience is partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to shift the paradigm of vaccine development through artificial intelligence.

SK Bioscience announced Wednesday that it has been selected as the lead organization for ROTOR (The Research Optimization & Trial Outcome Recommender), a Gates Foundation-funded project to build an AI-based clinical decision-support platform. The Gates Foundation will cover the full cost of the project through its own funding. Global health nonprofit PATH and IT consulting firm Slalom are participating as co-partners.

ROTOR is designed to analyze immunogenicity and other scientific data generated during vaccine development using AI, supporting R&D decision-making and optimizing development strategies. The project aims to raise the probability of success for vaccine candidates and eventually expand into a general-purpose AI platform applicable across a range of vaccines and disease areas.

The vaccine field has long struggled with the decision of whether to advance candidates into large-scale Phase 3 trials, partly because immunological correlates of protection are not always well established and assay results can vary. Given the enormous cost and time required for Phase 3 trials, the industry has needed a more scientific and objective decision-making framework. The ROTOR platform is expected to address this challenge by using AI to analyze vast datasets and identify optimal development pathways.

SK Bioscience and PATH plan to build and validate the platform using data and experience from rotavirus vaccine development. The effort aims to strengthen the R&D capabilities of vaccine developers in low- and middle-income countries and expand vaccine access.

"This project is a new attempt to reduce uncertainty in the vaccine development process and enable more scientific and efficient decision-making through AI," SK Bioscience President Ahn Jae-yong said. "We will work with the Gates Foundation and our global partners to drive innovation in vaccine R&D and improve vaccine access around the world."


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