SK Biopharmaceuticals surged 10.5% on Wednesday after the company announced a licensing agreement with Biohaven Bioscience Ireland for its epilepsy drug candidate Opakalim and related Kv7 activator compounds, alongside the underlying Kv7 discovery platform.
The deal includes an upfront payment of $400 million, with $350 million due at closing and an additional $50 million payable one year later. Total consideration may reach up to $795 million, contingent on development and commercial milestones.
Analysts at Heungkuk Securities maintained a Buy rating on SK Biopharmaceuticals, assigning a price target of 140,000 KRW. The stock’s rise followed strong performance of Cenobamate, which recorded a 24% year-on-year increase in July prescriptions.
For the second quarter, SK Biopharmaceuticals reported consolidated revenue of 247.4 billion KRW, a 40.3% increase from the prior year. The gains came as South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index advanced roughly 0.9%.
