SK Biopharm, 1Q Sales 41.1 Billion KRW... Operating Profit Turns Negative

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] SK Biopharm recorded first-quarter sales down 70.6% year-on-year, resulting in an operating loss.

SK Biopharm announced that its consolidated financial statements for the first quarter of this year showed provisional operating results of sales of 41.145 billion KRW and an operating loss of 37.138 billion KRW. Along with the operating loss, net profit also turned into a loss of 35.26 billion KRW.

The company explained, "Sales and partnering revenue of the epilepsy drug 'Cenobamate' in the U.S. continue to increase," but "excluding one-time factors such as technology exports, operating profit and net profit turned into losses compared to the same period last year."

Cenobamate (product name 'Xcopri') achieved sales of 31.7 billion KRW in the U.S. in the first quarter of this year, nearly tripling sales compared to the same period last year. In particular, in March, the number of prescriptions rose to around 12,000, achieving about twice the average performance of competing drugs released in the past 10 years at the 23rd month after launch.

The company expects that with the easing of COVID-19 prevention measures in the U.S. and growing anticipation of 'reopening,' sales and marketing activities for Cenobamate will become more active from the second quarter onward.

Additionally, in Europe, partner Angelini Pharma launched Cenobamate under the product name 'Ontozry' in Austria, and it is scheduled to be released within this year in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, the Czech Republic, Belgium, and other countries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.