SK Life Science’s sales rise tenfold in 5 years in the US

SK Biopharmaceuticals’ U.S. subsidiary…supported by the rise in sales of its new FDA-approved drugs

SK Life Science posted KRW 490.9 billion in sales last year...up 27% YoY

Sales of its epilepsy drug cenobamate rise… parent company increases operating expenses paid to a subsidiary

SK Biopharmaceuticals' U.S.-based subsidiary posted sales of nearly KRW 500 billion last year.

 

The sales of its epilepsy drug cenobamate increased in the U.S., increasing the company’s sales by over tenfold in 5 years.

 

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday, SK Life Science’s sales totaled KRW 49.9 billion last year, up 26.5% from the previous year.

 

SK Life Science is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SK Biopharmaceuticals.

 

It is in charge of the U.S.

 

sales of cenobamate, a new drug developed by SK Biopharmaceuticals.

 

Annual sales of SK Life Science (Unit: KRW 100 million, Data: FSS)

SK Life Science’s sales have been showing strong growth, up 83.7% in 2 years since posting KRW 267.2 billion in 2021.

 

Its sales have expanded more than tenfold in five years from a mere KRW 47.5 billion it generated in sales in 2018.

 

This is in part due to the surge in sales of its new epilepsy drug cenobamate in the United States.

 

Xcopri, which contains cenobamate, is an epilepsy drug independently developed by SK Biopharmaceuticals and sold in the United States.

 

It is prescribed for the treatment of partial-onset seizures in adults in the U.S.

 

Its mechanism of action relieves seizure symptoms by simultaneously regulating two targets related to excitatory and inhibitory signaling, which are causes of epilepsy.

 

SK Biopharmaceuticals had independently performed the whole course of Xcopri’s development and commercialization from early development to U.S.

 

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

 

The company received approval for its cenobamate under the brand name ‘Xcopri’ in November 2019, and has been selling the drug through SK Life Science since May 2020.

 

Last year, cenobamate’s U.S.

 

sales reached KRW 270.8 billion, up 60.1% YoY.

 

In 2021, cenobamate posted sales of KRW 78.2 billion, more than tripling in 2 years.

 

SK Life Science has about 150 medical representatives.

 

Epilepsy is a condition that is treated by a small number of focus specialists in the United States.

 

Due to the small number of target physicians, the company was able to sell the drug directly in the U.S.

 

with such a small sales force.

 

SK Life Science’s marketing center, which consists of sales and marketing personnel, has experts with more than 20 years of experience in successfully launching and selling epilepsy treatments and major central nervous system drugs at Johnson & Johnson, UCB, and other leading companies in the U.S.

 

CNS market.

 

Quarterly sales of Xcopri in the US (Unit: KRW 100 million, Data: FSS)

With the rise in cenobamate’s sales, SK Life Science’s parent company has also increased its operating expense support.

 

Last year, SK Life Science's revenue included KRW 220 billion in operating expenses paid by its parent company SK Biopharmaceuticals.

 

SK Biopharmaceuticals earned revenue by supplying SK Life Science with cenobamate.

 

The company pays SK Life Science a certain amount of operating expenses each year, which are reflected in SK Life Science's revenue, according to the company.

 

The company said, "The number of prescriptions in December last year, the 44th month of cenobamate’s launch, was about 26,000, which is about 2.2 times the number of prescriptions made in the 44th month by its competitors.

 

We will work to accelerate growth by increasing the number of monthly prescriptions to over 30,000 this year.”