SK plasma said Thursday its Indonesia blood products self-sufficiency project was named the Social Infrastructure Deal of the Year for the Asia-Pacific region at the IJGlobal Awards 2025.
Noh Hyun-ho, CEO of PT SK Plasma Core Indonesia, poses for a photo at the IJGlobal Awards 2025 ceremony at Raffles Singapore in Singapore on April 16. (Credit: SK plasma)
The company said it is the first Korean pharmaceutical firm to win the award in the social infrastructure category.
Hosted by Infrastructure Journal Global, or IJGlobal, the annual awards recognize infrastructure, energy and social infrastructure projects worldwide based on their investment structure, financing model, execution performance, sustainability and social impact.
SK plasma has been pursuing a project to build a plasma-derived blood products manufacturing facility in Indonesia to help the country establish self-sufficiency in essential blood products. As part of the project, SK plasma established a joint venture, PT SK Plasma Core Indonesia, with the Indonesia Investment Authority, or INA, the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
INA is participating as the second-largest shareholder by investing up to $50 million, or about 66.9 billion won, in the project. The project also marks INA’s first partnership with a Korean company, SK plasma said.
“The award reflects recognition of our technology and operational capabilities in building and running a blood products manufacturing facility in Indonesia,” the company said. “The project was highly evaluated for combining the social significance of establishing production infrastructure for essential medicines with a sustainable business structure based on public-private cooperation.”
The facility under construction in Indonesia will produce plasma-derived products, including albumin and immunoglobulin, using human blood plasma as raw material. Such products are essential medicines used for emergency patients, surgery and bleeding control, but only 25 countries have production infrastructure for blood products.
Once completed, the facility is expected to allow Indonesia to move away from dependence on imports and establish a healthcare system capable of ensuring a stable domestic supply of blood products.
SK plasma explained that the project will help the country secure a stable supply system and self-reliance in essential medicines, enabling more flexible responses to infectious disease outbreaks or global supply chain disruptions.
The project was also seen as significant because it combines social value with business growth potential. With equity participation from Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund, SK plasma is pursuing the business in a joint venture structure with government-level backing, which the company said could support stable operations in the local blood products market after commercialization.
“This project is a case in which the government’s commitment to building a health security system, combined with SK plasma’s technology and bold investment, helped address a national challenge of establishing essential healthcare infrastructure,” INA acting CEO Eddy Porwanto said. “We will also focus on building an essential medicines ecosystem so that the blood products market can achieve self-sufficiency and sustainability within Indonesia.”
SK plasma CEO Kim Seung-joo also said, “Beyond building production facilities, our integrated solution model for achieving blood products self-sufficiency, covering raw plasma management, manufacturing and quality control, operations and supply systems, can serve as a solution to healthcare challenges in countries that need self-sufficiency.”
The company will expand collaboration with governments and various stakeholders that need self-sufficiency in essential medicines and make bold investments in global infrastructure and R&D to help narrow the gap in essential healthcare infrastructure between countries, Kim added.
Lee Han-soo
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