SK Biopharm aims to make it to global top 10 healthcare firms by 2030

South Korea’s SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. said on Friday it aspires to become one of the world’s top 10 healthcare companies by 2030 with its enterprise value of 50 trillion won ($44 billion) by then.

During a company event titled, “Financial Story,” the company also unveiled a long-term vision to expand its scope of business from epilepsy-focused drug making to medication for rare neurological diseases, mental disorders and cancer.

“We aim to unveil a new product for rare neurological diseases by 2025. We’re also developing a treatment for mental disorders in partnership with global pharmaceutical companies,” said Chief Executive Cho Jeong-woo.

In May last year, the company developed Cenobamate, sold under the brand name Xcopri in the US, a medication used for the treatment of partial onset epileptic seizures. It took the drug to Germany last month.

CEO Cho said the company will redouble marketing efforts globally and particularly in the US to raise its corporate value to 25 trillion won by 2025.

The company’s overall sales increased 36-fold to 140 billion won in the first quarter from 3.9 billion won in the year-earlier period.

The chief executive said the company plans to launch more central nervous system drugs in the US market, while expanding research and development investment to find new drug candidates.

SK Biopharmaceuticals will speed up its digital transformation and employ artificial intelligence in the development of drugs, he said.

Write to Ju-Hyun Lee at deep@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.