(LEAD) SK Biopharm's Q3 operating profit up 66 pct on U.S. sales of seizure drug

SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., a biopharmaceutical arm of SK Group, said Thursday its operating profit rose 65.9 percent from a year earlier, boosted by robust U.S. sales of oral anti-seizure medication.

The company reported an operating profit of 116.3 billion won in the July-September period, according to its regulatory filing.

Sales increased 34.8 percent to 258.4 billion won. But net income was down 23.9 percent to 54.3 billion won.

The sharp rise in operating profit came despite adjustments to the won-dollar exchange, helped by the robust growth of its seizure drug, Cenobamate, also known as Xcopri in the United States, the company said. The strengthening of the won also helped lower costs, it added.

The sales generated in the U.S. from the oral prescription drug came to US$156.8 million, up 29.9 percent on-year, the company said. The drug's aggregate sales as of end-September have reached 76 percent of the upper-end of its revenue guidance for the year of $580 million, according to the company.

Lee Dong-hoon, the chief executive officer of SK Biopharm, said its efforts in the U.S. market have helped accelerate the pace of the increase in operating profits, generating enough cash flow to allow the company to carry out large-scale investments.

"We are now moving beyond the success of a single product to further strengthen a vicious cycle where we extend the value of our direct sales platforms to our next products, and reinvest the proceeds into the research and development of subsequent drugs," he said.

According to its release, SK Biopharm has signed an agreement to license a new epilepsy drug candidate from the U.S. bio company, Biohaven, and is currently in the process of finalizing the transaction.

The company is also seeking to start the clinical test of a number of drug candidates, including SKL32276, a Parkinson's disease drug candidate.