SK Biopharm Reports Q2 Sales of 53.4 Billion KRW, Up 123% Year-on-Year

Sales Growth and Technology Export Drive of Epilepsy Treatment 'Cenobamate'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] SK Biopharm announced on the 11th that its consolidated sales for the second quarter of this year reached 53.4 billion KRW, marking a 123% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating loss was recorded at 40.1 billion KRW.

The company explained that the sales growth was driven by the increased revenue from the innovative epilepsy drug 'Cenobamate' and global technology exports to countries including Israel. Although there were increases in research and development expenses for expanding growth engines such as the Phase 3 clinical trial of Cenobamate in Asia, the Lennox-Gastaut syndrome treatment 'Carisbamate', and anticancer drugs, as well as higher selling and administrative expenses due to strengthened marketing and sales efforts in the U.S., the operating loss increased by only 8% compared to the previous quarter.

Cenobamate achieved sales of 40.3 billion KRW in the U.S. during the second quarter, a 114% increase from the same period last year. In particular, the number of prescriptions steadily increased, recording 39,775 cases in the second quarter alone, an 18% rise from the previous quarter.

Global market expansion outside the U.S. is also progressing simultaneously. To commercialize Cenobamate in the Latin American region, a technology export contract was signed with Europharma, and technology exports to Australia and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region are being pursued within this year. In Europe, the drug is expected to be launched within the year in Finland, Switzerland, Spain, and France through the partner company Angelini Pharma.

Besides Cenobamate, SK Biopharm is accelerating the development of its pipeline including Carisbamate, the next-generation epilepsy drug 'SKL24741', the schizophrenia drug 'SKL20540', and the targeted anticancer drug 'SKL27969'.

Furthermore, to advance as a healthcare company covering the entire cycle of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of brain diseases, SK Biopharm is expanding collaborations with promising pharmaceutical and bio companies. Recently, through open innovation, it has begun discovering new drug candidates with a novel approach targeting miRNA in partnership with BioOrchestra, and is conducting research on next-generation anticancer drugs based on targeted protein degradation (TPD) technology with Ubix Therapeutics. In the diagnostic field, a medical device capable of predicting and detecting epilepsy is scheduled for domestic clinical trials this year.