SK Biopharm Reports 2Q Operating Loss of 18.9 Billion KRW, Reducing Deficit by 53% Year-on-Year

Sales of 77 Billion KRW... 44% Increase YoY
Senobamate US Sales 63.4 Billion KRW... Largest Quarterly Growth

SK Biopharm reduced its deficit thanks to the sales growth of its epilepsy drug 'cenobamate' (U.S. product name Xcopri) in the United States.

SK Biopharm Epilepsy New Drug Cenobamate 150mg.
[Photo by SK Biopharm]

SK Biopharm announced on the 10th that its consolidated sales for the second quarter of this year were preliminarily estimated at 77.013 billion KRW, a 44.13% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating loss for the same period was recorded at 18.936 billion KRW, reducing the deficit by 52.74%. Net loss improved by 48.59% to 23.342 billion KRW compared to the same period last year.

Regarding this, an SK Biopharm official explained, "Although selling and administrative expenses increased by about 7.1 billion KRW compared to the first quarter, when expenses were under-executed due to seasonal factors, the quarterly operating loss has been continuously decreasing thanks to the sales growth of cenobamate and efforts to optimize selling and administrative expenses."

Sales of cenobamate in the U.S. for the second quarter reached 63.4 billion KRW, a 57.5% increase compared to the same period last year. Compared to the previous quarter, it grew by 17.6%. The total prescriptions (TRx) in the U.S. are also continuously increasing. In June, the monthly prescription count was 21,841, which the company explained is about 2.1 times the average prescription count at 38 months after the launch of competing new drugs.

Cenobamate is also expanding into global markets outside the U.S. In Europe, it has successfully launched under the product name 'Ontozry' in 18 countries including Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, and France. Additionally, ongoing clinical trials for cenobamate in three Asian countries, as well as Phase 3 clinical trials aimed at expanding indications to generalized seizures and extending the eligible age group for administration to children and adolescents, are all progressing on a schedule to submit New Drug Applications (NDA) or supplemental New Drug Applications (sNDA) by 2025.

In July, SK Biopharm revealed its mid- to long-term growth strategy for becoming a 'balanced big biotech' at a briefing session. A big biotech refers to a company that continuously develops new drugs by introducing innovative technologies through active inorganic growth based on strong cash generation capabilities.

SK Biopharm explained that cenobamate is expected to grow into a blockbuster generating 1 billion USD in U.S. sales alone by 2029. SK Biopharm plans to add a second commercialized product to cenobamate’s direct sales network in the U.S. by 2025 to secure fixed costs and operating leverage effects. Furthermore, the company plans to focus on innovative new drug development platforms to secure promising technologies, selecting three new modalities for this purpose: Radiopharmaceutical Therapy (RPT), Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD), and Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT).

An SK Biopharm official stated, "The cash flow generated by the accelerated growth of cenobamate, combined with investments in new research and development (R&D) technology platforms, is leading to the acquisition of a second commercialized product in the long term, creating a virtuous cycle of growth," adding, "We expect to fully advance toward becoming a big biotech."

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