SK Biopharmaceuticals returns to profit as epilepsy drug boosts bottom line

SK Biopharmaceuticals CEO Lee Dong-hoon speaks during the 42nd J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco, California, between Jan. 8 to 11. [SK BIOPHARM]

SK Biopharmaceuticals swung to black in the fourth quarter last year with expectation-beating results. Its annual operating loss got smaller as well, driven by strong sales of its epilepsy drug Xcopri, according to the drugmaker.

SK Biopharmaceuticals’ operating profit came in at 15.2 billion won ($11.4 million) in the October-December period, from the prior quarter’s loss of 10.7 billion won and the 44.6 billion won loss in the same quarter last year. It is SK Biopharmaceuticals' first quarterly operating surplus since 2021 when the company went public on the Kospi market.

The quarterly figure far surpassed the analyst forecast of 2 billion won in operating loss compiled by market tracker FnGuide.

The quarterly net earnings also swung to profit with 7.8 billion won in surplus, also exceeding expectations of a 1.1 billion won loss. Sales rose 101.9 percent on year to 126.8 billion won, above the market consensus of 109.1 billion won.

Its annual operating loss stood at 37.1 billion last year, compared to the previous year’s 131.1 billion won. Net loss also decreased from the previous year’s 139.4 billion won to 36.3 billion won. Sales rose 44.2 percent to 354.9 billion won.

The drugmaker said that despite its acquisition of U.S. biotech firm ProteoVant, now called SK Life Science Labs, U.S. sales growth for its new drug Xcopri alongside improved efficiency for its expectation-beating results for 2023 drove its figures last year.

The U.S. sales of Xcopri, the anti-seizure drug also known as Cenobamate, grew 60.1 percent on year last year to 270.8 billion won. SK Biopharmaceuticals is currently selling Xcopri in the United States through its own sales network, rather than a U.S. distributor.

SK Biopharmaceutical plans to route the fresh inflow of cash into expanding pipelines, including targeted protein degradation and cell and gene therapies.

Its CEO Lee Dong-hoon previously said that the company expects Xcopri to achieve blockbuster status and generate $1 billion by 2029 in the U.S. market alone.

SK Biopharmaceuticals’ share price rose 6.70 percent on Monday to 93,900 won on Kospi.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]