SK Biopharm Reports 88.8 Billion KRW in Q3 Sales... Accelerating 'Xenobamate' Market Expansion in the US

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] SK Biopharm announced on the 10th that its consolidated sales for the third quarter reached 88.8 billion KRW, a 270.9% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating loss was preliminarily estimated at 9.2 billion KRW, down 81.5%.

The continuous growth of major products in the U.S. and expansion into new markets such as South America and Europe drove the sales growth. The epilepsy drug cenobamate (U.S. product name Xcopri) recorded sales of 47.4 billion KRW in the U.S. in the third quarter, a 138% increase compared to the same period last year.

The cumulative sales of cenobamate in the U.S. amount to 119.4 billion KRW. Since its launch in the U.S. market, it has maintained steady growth, and with accelerated expansion of its launch in Europe, the company expects to exceed the global sales target of 185 billion KRW for cenobamate this year.

In particular, the total prescriptions (TRx) prescribed to patients continue to increase. In the third quarter of this year, it recorded approximately 45,000 prescriptions, a 12% increase compared to the previous quarter. In August, it surpassed 15,000 monthly prescriptions for the first time. This is about 1.8 times the average prescription number at 29 months after the launch of competing products in the U.S.

SK Biopharm is focusing on strengthening the sales force of cenobamate in the U.S. and continues active marketing activities targeting medical professionals and patients. As face-to-face sales environments improve, the company has reorganized its local sales and marketing teams in the U.S. to maximize sales efficiency, resulting in all related indicators improving positively.

To further increase brand awareness of cenobamate, SK Biopharm plans to participate with a large booth at the American Epilepsy Society (AES) meeting in the fourth quarter and focus on promotion and marketing targeting epilepsy specialists by attending various academic meetings and events. In addition to cenobamate, the company is accelerating the development of its pipeline including carisbamate, next-generation epilepsy drug SKL24741, schizophrenia drug SKL20540, and targeted anticancer drug SKL27969.

To leap forward as a global healthcare company covering the entire cycle of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of brain diseases, SK Biopharm is also expanding collaborations with promising pharmaceutical and bio companies. Recently, through open innovation, it has begun discovering new drug candidates targeting miRNA in collaboration with BioOrchestra, and is conducting research on next-generation anticancer drugs based on targeted protein degradation (TPD) technology with Ubix Therapeutics.

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