SK Biopharm "Will Leap to Become a Top 10 Global Healthcare Company"

Expressing Ambitions to Enter Digital Healthcare
Showcasing Wearable Devices at Next Year's CES

Targeting Various Neurological Disorders Beyond CNS

On the 14th, at the Koreana Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, Hwang Seon-gwan, Vice President of SK Biopharm, is giving a presentation at SK Biopharm's CES 2023 pre-briefing session. (Photo by Lee Chun-hee)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] SK Biopharm has declared its entry into the digital healthcare business with the vision of becoming a "Global Top 10 Healthcare" company.

Ahead of its participation in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023 held in Las Vegas, USA, in January next year, SK Biopharm held a pre-briefing session on the 14th at the Koreana Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, to introduce the roadmap and vision for its digital healthcare business.

Hwang Seon-jin, Vice President of SK Biopharm and Head of the R&D Innovation Division, stated at the event, "Our goal is to leap into the global top 10 healthcare companies," adding, "We will not stop at expanding into the digital healthcare sector through the fusion of innovative new drug development and digital technology, but will leap forward as a global comprehensive healthcare solution company."

Building on SK Biopharm’s strengths accumulated so far?such as being the first in Korea to develop the epilepsy drug Cenobamate (marketed as Xcopri in the US) from candidate discovery to FDA approval and direct sales?the company plans to enter digital healthcare and present a digital innovation model that can contribute to the entire patient management process.

SK Biopharm's wearable device 'Zero Wired' (Photo by SK Biopharm)

SK Biopharm is first focusing on Xcopri and has embarked on developing a comprehensive epilepsy-targeted healthcare solution that covers not only medication but also prevention, diagnosis, and management. SK Biopharm named this initiative 'Project ZERO,' aiming for the complete elimination of seizures in epilepsy patients.

The first step toward this goal is wearable devices that collect patients’ EEG, ECG, and movement data in real time. The plan is to introduce a total of five epilepsy-specific devices: 'ZERO Glass,' 'ZERO Wired,' 'ZERO Headband,' 'ZERO Earbud,' and 'ZERO Headset.' Previously, ZERO Glass and ZERO Wired received the CES 2023 Innovation Award.

In the long term, the company aims to develop digital therapeutics (DTx). The plan includes developing ▲ an AI (artificial intelligence) model that analyzes collected data to detect seizure occurrences ▲ a mobile app that provides seizure detection alerts to patients and records and analyzes their history to assist in disease management.

Moreover, in terms of indications, SK Biopharm plans to accelerate the development of digital therapeutics not only for central nervous system (CNS) diseases such as epilepsy but also for new areas including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and oncology.

Vice President Hwang said, "Many firsts that SK Biopharm has achieved so far are accumulating," and added, "We ask for your great interest and support so that we can leap forward as the best integrated digital healthcare company in areas such as CNS and oncology."

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