Some five years into a pneumococcal vaccine patent dispute in South Korea, SK Bioscience has emerged victorious over Pfizer.

The win frees up the company to export its shot—which protects against 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria—to various other countries as SK holds out for a domestic launch in 2027. 

The Supreme Court of Korea has sided with SK on the matter, ruling that the Korean company did not violate a composition patent on Pfizer’s pneumococcal shot Prevnar 13 by shipping components and finished research doses of its own 13-valent immunization, PCV13, to Russia.

Korean regulators approved SK’s 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine under the name SKYPneumo back in 2016, SK explained in a Wednesday press release. Still, the outcome of a previous patent feud with Pfizer has blocked SK from producing and selling its shot in Korea until 2027, when the relevant Pfizer patents are slated to expire.

Pfizer filed its latest lawsuit in 2020 after SK exported PCV13 components and finished doses for research to a Russian drugmaker in 2018 and 2019, alleging that this violated the prior settlement, Korea Biomedical Review reports.

"This latest court decision is meaningful in that it ensures a competitively developed vaccine in Korea does not go to waste but instead finds new opportunity,” Jaeyong Ahn, SK’s CEO, said in a statement. “We will leverage this momentum to improve access to premium vaccines, contribute to a stable global vaccine supply, and achieve sustainable growth."

While SK still has to wait until 2027 to manufacture and sell SKYPneumo in Korea, the company said on Wednesday that it plans to “initiate new business in pneumococcal conjugate vaccines” by exporting individual components of its shot to countries with high demand, like those in Southeast Asia and Latin America.

SK added that it’s exploring technology transfers through local partnerships, as well.

Beyond SKPYneumo, the Korean vaccine specialist is currently developing a 21-valent pneumococcal conjugate shot with partner Sanofi that entered phase 3 testing late last year. SK and Sanofi are also tinkering with a next-generation pneumococcal vaccine that’s expected to offer broader protection than currently approved immunizations.

Meanwhile, SK hasn’t only been going up against Pfizer in Korean patent litigation.

Late last month, the company notched a win in a patent invalidation suit against Moderna, successfully knocking down the company’s Korean patent tied to mRNA vaccine technology.