SK Bio-Pharmaceuticals

SKBP strives to find innovative products that alter the course of diseases, and as a result, improve the quality of life for patients. SKBP is home to more than 60 top scientists from the United States, Korea, and China working across multiple disciplines to achieve an understanding of the disease process. At SKBP a wide range of technologies, including Computer Aided Drug Design (CADD), is used to maximize the company's potential for drug discovery and development.

The company's strength in combinatorial chemistry combined with newly identified biological targets represents an important intersection of genomic information and drug development. Several compounds from the ever-growing library of thousands of proprietary compounds have emerged as promising drug candidates.

SKBP boasts a diverse pipeline of compounds in various stages of development. SKBP's research programs focus on designing compounds to treat neurologic, psychiatric, and metabolic diseases, asthma, pain, and inflammations.

Initial R&D efforts have resulted in US INDs for two novel compounds, both of which have been licensed to Johnson & Johnson:

YKP509, a novel broad acting antiepileptic agent, has shown potent anticonvulsant activity against electrically and chemically induced seizures in rodents. This compound elevates the seizure threshold and dampens seizure propagation. Although the mode of action of YKP509 has not been completely established, experimental results indicate that YKP509 may be useful in the treatment of tonic-clonic seizures, complex partial seizures, and status epilepticus. YKP509 has been licensed to Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, and is currently undergoing further development.

YKP10A is a new chemical entity for the treatment of depression. This compound is structurally different from the tricyclics and currently marketed serotonin-reuptake inhibitors. YKP10A has been licensed to Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, and is currently undergoing further development.