South Korean vaccine company SK bioscience has announced that it will lead the Research Optimization & Trial Outcome Recommender (ROTOR) project, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered evidence synthesis and clinical development decision-support platform funded by the Gates Foundation.
The initiative will bring together global health nonprofit PATH and technology consulting firm Slalom in a collaborative effort to develop an AI platform designed to improve decision-making in vaccine development.
ROTOR will use AI to analyse diverse clinical, immunogenicity and scientific datasets generated during the vaccine development process. The platform aims to help researchers make more informed, evidence-based decisions, optimise clinical development strategies, and reduce uncertainty in vaccine research and development. Over time, it is expected to evolve into a scalable AI solution that can be applied across multiple vaccines and disease areas.
The platform will initially be developed and validated using rotavirus vaccine development data and experience from both SK bioscience and PATH. The project is intended to strengthen R&D capabilities among vaccine developers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) while supporting broader global access to vaccines. Reusable components of the platform are expected to encourage wider adoption across the vaccine development ecosystem.
Jaeyong Ahn, CEO of SK bioscience, said, “This project represents a new approach to reducing uncertainty in vaccine development through AI and enabling more scientific and efficient decision-making. Through this consortium, we aim to drive innovation in vaccine R&D while contributing to improved vaccine access worldwide.”
Why the ROTOR Project is Needed
SK bioscience noted that decisions to advance vaccine candidates into large-scale Phase III clinical trials are often particularly challenging because in many vaccine fields, including rotavirus, validated immune correlates of protection may be limited or absent, and assay results may vary across methodologies. Given the significant financial investment and long timelines required for Phase III studies, there is a growing need to build a more scientific and objective decision-making framework.
According to the company, the ROTOR platform will address these challenges by applying AI to analyze extensive clinical and research datasets, integrate diverse sources of scientific evidence, and generate structured decision-support insights for vaccine developers. The company expects this approach to improve the efficiency of vaccine development programmes.
SK bioscience has an established history of collaborating with global public health organisations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), International Vaccine Institute (IVI), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to expand global health infrastructure and vaccine accessibility.
SK bioscience recently signed a licensing agreement with the CDC to develop an injectable rotavirus vaccine. Earlier this year, the company partnered with Gates Medical Research Institute to develop a novel respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antibody therapy and secured a project from a European Union agency to develop a pandemic influenza (avian influenza) patch vaccine.
The company is also advancing a broad infectious disease pipeline that includes Ebola vaccines and cell-culture-based avian influenza vaccines.
