SK Biopharmaceuticals crushes consensus with $70 million net

SK Biopharmaceuticals logo

SK Biopharmaceuticals reported 83.5 billion won ($70 million) in net profit in 2021 from a 247.4 billion won net loss the previous year.

The FnGuide market consensus was for a 25.1 billion won net loss.

Annual revenues stood at 418.6 billion won, up about 16-fold and exceeding market expectation of 235.8 billion won.

Operating profit was 95.3 billion won from a 239.5 billion won of losses in 2020. The profit and revenue are all all-time high figures, according to the company.

"The major contributor was the strong sales of Cenobamate, an epilepsy treatment," the Pangyo, Gyeonggi-based biopharmaceutical company said.

Cenobamate is currently being sold in major markets globally including the United States and Europe.

In the United States alone, Cenobamate generated 78.2 billion won in sales last year. That's more than six times the total for 2020, with 27.9 billion won of sales in the fourth quarter alone.

Cenobamate gained use approval from the European Commission in early 2021. It is being sold in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Britain as Ontozry, and the company aims to introduce it in France, Italy and Spain soon.

Cenobamate is in Phase 3 clinical trials in Korea, China and Japan.

In January, the company started global Phase 3 clinical trials of a candidate to treat symptoms of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

The biopharmaceutical company's SKL27969, an anti-cancer treatment candidate, is in Phase 1 clinical trials in the United States.

SK Biopharmaceuticals shares rose 8.8 percent to close at 85,700 won Tuesday.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]