SK Biopharm and Dong-A ST Join Forces to Launch 'Cenobamate' in 30 Countries Including Korea

SK Biopharm and Dong-A ST announced on the 4th that they have signed a license agreement for the epilepsy drug 'Cenobamate' covering Korea and 30 other countries. The total contract value is 19 billion KRW, with a non-refundable signing fee of 5 billion KRW.

Lee Dong-hoon, President of SK Biopharm (left), and Kim Min-young, President of Dong-A ST, are posing for a commemorative photo at the license agreement signing ceremony for 'cenobamate'.
[Photo by Dong-A ST]

Cenobamate is already positioned for entry into the U.S., where SK Biopharm has established a direct sales system, as well as Europe (Abel Therapeutics), Latin America (Europharma), and the Middle East (Hikma) through partner companies. With this new agreement, the drug will be launched in over 100 countries, including Korea, East and South Asia, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, and T?rkiye (Turkey). Since the initial $530 million (approximately 694 billion KRW) contract with Abel Therapeutics in 2019, the total transaction value SK Biopharm has secured through Cenobamate now reaches 1.6 trillion KRW. Notably, 600 billion KRW of this amount has already been received through signing fees and milestones.

Under this agreement, Dong-A ST will receive the finished drug product (DP) manufacturing technology for Cenobamate from SK Biopharm and will be responsible for obtaining approvals, sales, and production in the 30 countries over the next 20 years. Currently, SK Biopharm is conducting Phase 3 clinical trials for adults in Korea, China, and Japan. Dong-A ST plans to launch the drug domestically and apply for reimbursement the year after the clinical trials are expected to conclude around 2025. They will also sequentially pursue approvals and supply in other regions.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, epilepsy is the third most common neurological disorder after stroke and dementia. Based on UbiStat data, as of 2022, there are approximately 190,000 epilepsy patients in Korea, with the market estimated at 130 billion KRW.

Lee Dong-hoon, CEO of SK Biopharm, said, “We are very pleased to collaborate with Dong-A ST, which has expertise in the Korean central nervous system (CNS) market and competitive global networks. We expect them to be the partner that can provide the benefits of the innovative drug Cenobamate, recognized for its excellent efficacy, to patients in Korea and other countries as quickly and reliably as possible.”

Kim Min-young, CEO of Dong-A ST, also stated, “To meet the long-awaited needs of epilepsy patients, we will work closely with SK Biopharm to ensure the early supply of Cenobamate. We will do our best to supply the drug as soon as possible to the 30 countries, including Korea.”

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