| title | SK biopharmaceuticals Enters into a Licensing Agreement with Premier Chinese Biopharmaceutical Company |
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Seoul, Korea — South Korean biotech SK biopharmaceuticals announced yesterday that they entered into a licensing agreement with Medicilon, of Shanghai, China, for its novel new small molecule SKL-PSY that is being developed for the treatment of depression and bipolar disorder. Unlike currently-marketed antidepressant that can require 2-4 weeks to become effective, SKL-PSY has a relatively quick onset of therapeutic effects in animal models of depressive and manic states. The molecule is expected to be effective for both; this can be problematic for currently-marketed antidepressants or other agents for the treatment of bipolar disorder. The combined current market size for antidepressants and treatments for bipolar disorder is estimated to be $39 billion annually. SK biopharmaceuticals and Medicilon have agreed to complete the preclinical testing of SKL-PSY within two years with an Investigational New Drug (IND) application filing in China by Medicilon and in the United States by SK biopharmaceuticals. This agreement was cited as being highly meaningful for SK biopharmaceuticals as it represents another step in its strategic effort to penetrate the rapidly-growing Chinese biopharmaceuticals market. According to Dr. Sanghoon Park, president of SK biopharmaceuticals, this agreement is “another example demonstrating SK biopharmaceuticals’ global R&D capabilities. It is also reflects our new business model to merge a partner’s proven development capabilities with that of SK biopharmaceuticals to achieve significant efficiencies and advance our effectiveness to the next level.” He also mentioned that “the Open Innovation exemplified by this agreement between SK biopharmaceuticals and Medicilon has been and will be our key strategic driver to enable us to achieve our goal of developing a world-class innovative drug.” About SK biopharmaceuticals SK biopharmaceuticals is a newly-independent biotech as of April this year, having been spun out from SK Holdings, the third-largest Korean conglomerate in South Korea. SK biopharmaceuticals focuses on discovery and development of new drugs as well as providing custom manufacturing services for the manufacture and sales of active pharmaceutical ingredients as well as also producing intermediates of drugs for major companies, including Pfizer and Roche, in their factories that have been newly approved in Korea for current Good Manufacturing Practices of active pharmaceutical ingredients. SK biopharmaceuticals has a preclinical research and development center located in Daejeon, South Korea, and its business development and clinical research center in New Jersey for the clinical development of its assets in the areas of epilepsy, neuropathic pain, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, and Parkinson’s disease. SK biopharmaceuticals leads all Korean pharmaceutical companies with 13 authorized INDs in the U.S. For more information, visit www.skbp.com Contact: SK Life Science Business Development Duncan Taylor, 201-421-3842 dtaylor@sklsi.com About Medicilon Medicilon is one of the premier drug development companies in China, providing diverse services from discovery to IND for many major global pharmaceutical companies. The company comprises numerous experts with prior experience with global pharmaceutical companies. For more information, visit www.medicilon.com |
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