이 기사는 2021년 03월 19일 10:30 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

SK Biopharmaceuticals, which made a strong stock market debut last year, is proceeding with its plan to expand into global markets, thanks to its main drug pipeline cenobamate.

The biotech unit under South Korea’s SK Group showed poor performance in 2020, posting revenue of 26 billion won ($23 million) and an operating loss of 239.5 billion won, down 79% and up 56.2% respectively, year-on-year. Net loss also increased by 246% to 247.4 billion won from 71.5 billion won during the same period.

SK Biopharm explained that revenue decreased sharply due to a base effect as the company received an upfront payment of 110 billion won to develop and commercialize cenobamate, an epilepsy treatment candidate, in Europe in 2019. It is expected to take more time to stabilize the company’s financial performance.

SK Biopharm was established after SK Holdings split off its life science business unit in 2011. The company specializes in the research and development of new anti-cancer drugs and expands investment in central nervous system pipeline.

SK Biopharm made a strong market debut in July 2020. The offering was 835 times subscribed during its book building process, with the shares initially priced at 49,000 won, the top end of the band. The company drew 31 billion won in deposits from individual investors, the largest in the country's IPO history.

At that time, SK Biopharm pledged to become a “continuously-growing novel drug developer.” It also planned to boost its profit by selling its main pipeline cenobamate in the global markets.

As promised, the company licensed out its cenobamate to Japan’s tenth largest drug maker Ono Pharmaceutical in October 2020. The contract gave Ono the rights to develop and commercialize cenobamate in Japan. Cenobamate received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and released in 2020 and is awaiting approval from the European Medicines Agency.

Cenobamate is expected to get a nod in Europe in the first half and hit shelves in Japan from 2024, which is likely to push up the revenue of cenobamate from some 10 billion won in 2020 to 600 billion won in 2024. The firm is also likely to swing to profit around that time.

However, SK Biopharm’s stock remains sluggish. Its stock closed at 110,000 won on March 16, up 124.5% compared to the listing price, but down 59.2% compared to the all-time high of 269,500 won. Its shares declined by 34.5% so far this year. Market insiders expect the sale of cenobamate to have a significant impact on SK Biopharm’s stock price in the future. (Reporting by Su-jeong Kim)