A key executive who led the success of the epilepsy treatment Cenobamate at SK Biopharmaceuticals has stepped down. SK Biopharmaceuticals is now in the unusual situation of having only one core research talent remaining. Some say this points to a staffing gap at a time when the company needs to develop follow-up drugs.
◇ Worked more than 20 years … vice president who led Cenobamate development steps down
According to the business community on the 25th, Vice President Park Jeong-shin, who had served as head of preclinical development at SK Biopharmaceuticals, left the company at the end of last year. Park also concurrently served as head at SK Life Science, the U.S. subsidiary of SK Biopharmaceuticals. A company official said Park stepped down for personal reasons and noted Park will continue advising on Cenobamate and other matters.
Park worked at SK Group for more than 20 years and was considered highly capable. After graduating from Ewha Womans University College of Pharmacy, Park joined SK's new drug development division in 2004. When SK spun off its life science business to launch SK Biopharmaceuticals through a physical partitioning, Park moved with it. At SK Biopharmaceuticals, Park served as clinical development Deputy Minister in 2018, Director General of new drug development in 2020, and from early last year as preclinical development Deputy Minister.
As clinical development Deputy Minister, Park was known to have been involved in Cenobamate's clinical program and the 2019 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval process. Cenobamate is considered to reduce seizures more than existing epilepsy treatments. SK Biopharmaceuticals posted 706.7 billion won in consolidation revenue and 203.9 billion won in operating profit last year. Cenobamate accounts for 97% of total sales.
◇ Needs to develop follow-up drugs… only one core researcher?
With Park's departure, SK Biopharmaceuticals is left with only one core research leader: Vice President Hwang Seon-gwan, head of the new drug research division. Given the nature of the new drug business, securing high-caliber talent with knowledge and experience is critical. Some say the company faces a vacuum in research leadership just as it needs to find the next growth driver to follow Cenobamate.
As of the end of 2023, SK Biopharmaceuticals' core research leaders were five: Vice President Park, Vice President Hwang, New Drug Research Institute head Jeong Gu-min, Oncology Research Institute head Park Suk-kyung, and Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Commissioner Maeng Cheol-young. Jeong and Park each oversaw new drug and oncology research, and Maeng is also a former head of the New Drug Research Institute. Starting with Maeng at the end of 2023, Jeong and Park left the company in succession at the end of 2024.
Hwang is now said to be overseeing new drug research and development at SK Biopharmaceuticals. With the company highly dependent on Cenobamate sales, it is developing next-generation medicines such as radiopharmaceuticals (RPT). Radiopharmaceuticals are administered to patients to irradiate only cancer cells for treatment, and the preclinical work on candidate substances was handled by the division where Park had worked.
SK Biopharmaceuticals says it will respond to the staffing gap through a reorganization. A company official said the tasks previously handled by Park were distributed, and decision-making systems were established by function. The official added that the company created a radiopharmaceutical center and a central nervous system (CNS) center and promoted capable staff to center heads, and that it is also securing research personnel in the United States.