SK pharmteco Commits $100M to Viral Vector Business, Minaris Joins CIRM Program

SK pharmteco has announced a $100 million funding commitment to support strategic initiatives within its viral vector business while reaffirming its long-term growth strategy across three business units: small molecule, peptides, and viral vectors. Separately, Minaris, a global cell and gene therapy contract development and manufacturing organization, has joined the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's Industry Resource Partner Program, offering end-to-end CGT capabilities to CIRM-funded innovators.

The $100 million will be deployed to reinforce and expand capabilities across SK pharmteco's viral vector business, including its centers of excellence in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and Corbeil-Essonnes, France. The company is prioritizing operational excellence with a focus on further maturing quality systems, optimizing process performance, and advancing technology transfer while enabling innovation across its global network to deliver more reliable development, late-stage, and commercial execution.

"Our strategy is built on the strength of three essential business units: small molecules, peptides, and viral vectors," said the Chief Executive Officer of SK pharmteco. "As the industry evolves, our partners need a CDMO that combines specialized expertise, technical sophistication, and operational reliability across modalities."

By advancing its three-business-unit strategy, SK pharmteco is strengthening its position as a differentiated global CDMO, combining the reliability and scale of established small molecule manufacturing, the specialized capabilities of its peptides business, and the advanced expertise required to support the development and manufacture of viral vector-based therapies.

Meanwhile, through the IRP Program, Minaris will offer end-to-end CGT capabilities — from early-stage development and viral vector manufacturing to clinical and commercial GMP production, along with comprehensive biosafety, potency, viral clearance, and product characterization testing. For CIRM awardees, this provides structured access to scalable manufacturing and regulatory expertise at a stage when speed, quality, and capital efficiency are often in tension.

"CIRM plays a critical role in advancing CGT and accelerating therapies to patients," said the CTO and CCO of Minaris. "By joining the IRP Program, we look forward to supporting CIRM's network with flexible, scalable solutions tailored to the unique needs of emerging and growing cell and gene therapy programs."

Programs like CIRM's IRP model reduce friction by embedding experienced CDMOs into the funding ecosystem. Rather than navigating vendor selection independently, innovators gain access to pre-aligned partners with relevant CGT expertise. Minaris' integrated service model supports innovators from process development through late-stage clinical trials and commercialization, helping reduce handoff risk — a common vulnerability in cell and gene therapy development.

Minaris brings more than 25 years of CGT development and manufacturing experience and over 40 years in biosafety testing, operating five global sites across three continents. Its presence in Philadelphia connects local infrastructure to a national funding network advancing regenerative medicine.