SEOUL– SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., a biopharmaceutical affiliate of SK Group, said Thursday it swung to a net loss last year due to decreased overseas sales of its epilepsy medication.
The company said in a regulatory filing its net losses for 2022 reached 139.4 billion won (US$110.5 million), swinging from a profit of 64.8 billion won a year earlier.
It posted an operating loss of 131.1 billion won for the year, compared with a profit of 95 billion won the previous year. Annual revenue fell 41.2 percent on-year to 246.2 billion won from 418.6 billion won.
SK Biopharm said the net loss is blamed on decreased income from exports of Cenobamate, a medication used for the treatment of partial-onset seizures, a kind of epilepsy, in adults.
It earned 169.2 billion won in revenue from the United States, up 116.3 percent from a year earlier, thanks to rising demand for Cenobamate, sold under the brand name Xcopri in the U.S.
SK Biopharm said it will increase Cenobamate’s U.S. sales to up to 300 billion won in the U.S. in 2023, expected to help the company turn to the black in the fourth quarter.
The company said it is planning to release Cenobamate in eight more countries in 2023, with the drug now available in 15 nations.
Shares in SK Biopharm fell 0.7 percent to close at 71,300 won on the main bourse, underperforming the broader KOSPI’s 0.09 percent drop.
Source: Yonhap News Agency