SK Bioscience has been selected as the lead institution for a Gates Foundation–funded research initiative to develop an AI-powered clinical decision-support platform designed to optimize vaccine development strategies.
The company announced Wednesday that it will lead the “ROTOR (Research Optimization & Trial Outcome Recommender)” project, which is financially supported by the Gates Foundation. The initiative also includes global partners PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), a nonprofit global health organization, and Slalom, a global technology consulting firm.
ROTOR is an AI-based platform designed to analyze large-scale immunological and clinical datasets generated during vaccine development. The system aims to support R&D decision-making by identifying optimal development pathways and improving the likelihood of clinical success across vaccine candidates.
In vaccine development, progression from Phase 2 to Phase 3 trials is typically one of the most critical decision points. However, in several disease areas—including rotavirus—scientific markers that reliably predict vaccine efficacy, known as correlates of protection, are not always well established or may vary across assays. As Phase 3 trials require substantial time and financial investment, the industry has long sought more data-driven and objective decision-making tools.
The ROTOR platform is intended to address these challenges by applying AI to integrate and analyze complex datasets from clinical and preclinical research. It is expected to help researchers identify more efficient development strategies and improve the overall probability of success in vaccine pipelines.
SK Bioscience and PATH will leverage their experience and data from rotavirus vaccine development to build and validate the platform. The project is also expected to contribute to strengthening R&D capabilities among vaccine developers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and improving global vaccine accessibility.
The Gates Foundation has previously supported multiple global health initiatives focused on infectious disease prevention and vaccine innovation. SK Bioscience said the collaboration aligns with its broader efforts to expand its global public health partnerships.
The company has worked with organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Gavi, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Recent collaborations include a licensing agreement with the CDC for injectable rotavirus vaccine development and a partnership with Gates MRI (Medical Research Institute) for a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antibody program. Earlier this year, SK Bioscience also secured a European Union–backed project for the development of a pandemic-ready patch-type influenza vaccine.
The company is also advancing a broader pipeline that includes Ebola vaccines and cell-culture–based avian influenza vaccines, as it continues its transition toward a global vaccine developer with expanded R&D capabilities.
