Daol Investment & Securities said on the 27th that SK Biopharmaceuticals(326030) strengthened its product portfolio by bringing in a new epilepsy treatment. It maintained a "buy (BUY)" investment opinion and raised the target price to 160,000 won from 150,000 won. The previous trading day's closing price was 91,600 won.
SK Biopharmaceuticals the previous day signed an exclusive global license agreement with Biohaven Bioscience for the epilepsy drug candidate Opakalim (BHV-7000), other Kv7 activator compounds, and the Kv7 discovery platform.
The deal size totals $795 million—$400 million in upfront payment plus up to $395 million in development and regulatory milestones (about 1.1 trillion won). Running royalties will also be paid separately based on sales tiers after product launch.
Lee Ji-su, an analyst at Daol Investment & Securities, said, "Opakalim can be differentiated from competing drugs in terms of superior safety and tolerability." That is because Xenon's azetucalner recorded a 31.5% incidence of dizziness and a 14.5% discontinuation rate due to adverse events in phase 3, while Opakalim's incidence of dizziness was around 5%.
The analyst noted, "While Xcopri is prescribed mainly for treatment-resistant patients, Opakalim can reach even early-treatment patients based on tolerability, making the two complementary," adding, "Being able to leverage the existing U.S. sales organization is also a strength."
Daol Investment & Securities presented 2029 as the target launch timing for Opakalim. It plans a first phase 3 (RISE-3) topline readout at the end of this year, a second phase 3 result announcement in early 2028, followed by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) filing in the first half of 2028.
The analyst said, "We raised the fair price to 160,000 won by newly reflecting 717.5 billion won in new drug value for Opakalim and considering the value offset from increased borrowing fund," adding, "Profitability across the epilepsy lineup is expected to improve through use of the existing U.S. network and synergy with Xcopri."