SK Biopharmaceuticals(326030), buoyed by strong U.S. sales of the epilepsy drug "Xcopri (ingredient Cenobamate)," posted its highest-ever quarterly results.
SK Biopharmaceuticals said on the 5th that, on a consolidation basis, second-quarter revenue was 247.4 billion won and operating profit was 97.1 billion won. Compared with the same period a year earlier, revenue rose 40.3% and operating profit increased 56.9%. Versus the previous quarter, revenue was up 8.5% and operating profit grew 8.1%.
The company said that, excluding the quarter when one-off service income was reflected, it was the highest quarterly performance on record.
Growth was driven by rising U.S. sales of the flagship product Xcopri. U.S. sales of Xcopri were 224.4 billion won, up 13.5% from the previous quarter and 45.6% from a year earlier. Cumulative U.S. sales in the first half came to 422.1 billion won.
Prescriptions are also steadily increasing. In the second quarter, total U.S. prescriptions (TRx) were about 143,000, up 8.4% from the previous quarter. Monthly prescriptions in June were 49,155, continuing the growth trend.
SK Biopharmaceuticals plans to expand U.S. market marketing in the second half to sustain the rise in prescriptions. After resuming direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising in April, it added a new ad in June and plans to strengthen marketing targeting medical professionals and patients.
It is also pushing to expand indications to enhance product competitiveness. The company plans to apply within the year for additional approvals to expand to primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures (PGTC) and pediatric indications. In Japan, the review is underway with the goal of approval within the year, and in Brazil, a launch is slated for this month.
SK Biopharmaceuticals plans to accelerate securing next-generation growth engines based on cash flow from Xcopri. It is expanding pipelines in central nervous system (CNS) new drugs, radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT), and targeted protein degradation (TPD), and in June it also began joint research with Insilico Medicine to discover new drugs using AI.
Lee Dong-hoon, president of SK Biopharmaceuticals, said, "Operating profit continues to increase despite expanded investment in research and development and marketing," adding, "We will help restore investor confidence by delivering strong results in the second half as well."