Company licenses disease-modifying treatment candidate from First Bio Therapeutics, takes equity stake

Dual-target oral inhibitor marks first result of open-innovation push

Deal signals expansion beyond epilepsy into broader neurodegenerative disease space

Kim Jae-eun (left), chief executive of First Bio Therapeutics, and Yoo Chang-ho, head of strategy at SK Biopharm, pose for a photo at a contract signing ceremony held at SK Biopharm's Pangyo office on Thursday. [SK Biopharm]
Kim Jae-eun (left), chief executive of First Bio Therapeutics, and Yoo Chang-ho, head of strategy at SK Biopharm, pose for a photo at a contract signing ceremony held at SK Biopharm's Pangyo office on Thursday. [SK Biopharm]

SK Biopharm is moving to expand its central nervous system pipeline through open innovation, securing a disease-modifying treatment candidate for Parkinson's disease — an area with significant unmet medical need.

The company announced Thursday that it has signed a license agreement with drug development biotech First Bio Therapeutics to acquire global exclusive rights to develop and commercialize a Parkinson's disease treatment candidate, along with a strategic equity investment of 3 billion won ($2.19 million) in the firm.

The total value of the license agreement reaches up to approximately 430.8 billion won. The deal comprises an upfront payment of 2.5 billion won, development and commercialization milestone payments of up to 72.5 billion won, and sales-based milestones of up to $260 million. Royalties on net sales following commercialization will be paid separately.

The acquired compound is a small-molecule oral drug candidate that simultaneously inhibits Type 2 LRRK2 and c-Abl — two key drivers of Parkinson's disease pathology. It is designed to address endolysosomal dysfunction and alpha-synuclein accumulation, with the goal of becoming a first-in-class disease-modifying therapy that slows or halts disease progression rather than merely managing symptoms. First Bio Therapeutics will lead preclinical candidate selection, while SK Biopharm will pursue subsequent development steps including an investigational new drug application.

The deal marks SK Biopharm's first major move into neurodegenerative disease, leveraging the global commercial infrastructure and clinical capabilities it built around cenobamate, its breakthrough epilepsy drug, to push into new CNS territory.

It is also the first candidate brought in through SK Biopharm's Open Innovation Center, signaling that the company's "East-West Bridge" strategy — an open R&D model aimed at identifying promising early-stage pipeline assets in Asia and advancing them into global markets — has moved into full operation.

"This agreement is a concrete example of our East-West Bridge strategy, expanding our CNS portfolio through open innovation while connecting promising Asian candidates to global markets," SK Biopharm President Lee Dong-hoon said. "We will use our accumulated development capabilities and global partnerships to enhance the value of this candidate and explore the potential of next-generation disease-modifying therapies that intervene in disease progression itself."

Kim Jae-eun, chief executive of First Bio Therapeutics, said the partnership carries significant weight because it combines her company's early-stage drug development capabilities with SK Biopharm's global development and commercialization expertise. "We will focus all our efforts to ensure the subsequent development proceeds successfully," she added.


silverpaper@heraldcorp.com