SK Biopharmaceuticals’ sales plummeted in the first quarter, compared to a year earlier, due to the base effect of a one-off income from a licensing deal last year.

In a public filing on Thursday, the company said it posted 41.1 billion won ($31.8 million) sales in the first three months of 2022, a 70.61 percent decline compared to 139.9 billion won in the same period of last year.

The company reported a 37.1 billion operating loss and a 35.2 billion net loss in the first quarter.

Although the company continued to earn income from U.S. sales of a new epilepsy drug, cenobamate (brand name: Xcopri), and royalties from sales in Europe, it turned to red with an operating loss and a net loss in the first quarter because of the base effect from the profits earned through a licensing deal last year, it said.

SK Biopharmaceuticals is seeking to clinch license deals in South America, the Middle East, and North Africa.

The company aims to achieve rapid growth by expanding open innovation with promising companies and introducing innovative technology.

SK Biopharmaceuticals said cenobamate sold 31.7 billion won in the U.S. in the first quarter, a triple growth compared to the same period of last year.

In Europe, its partner company Angelini Pharma released cenobamate (brand name: Ontozry) in Austria. According to the company, the product will also be launched in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, Czech Republic, and Belgium this year.

Also, SK Biopharmaceuticals is working on phase 3 trials of cenobamate in China, Japan, and Korea and a global phase 3 study of carisbamate, a treatment for Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS).

The company added that new epilepsy treatment SKL24741 and schizophrenia drug SKL20540 would enter phase 2 studies this year.

In January, the FDA cleared SK Biopharmaceuticals to conduct a phase 1 study of SKL27969, the company’s first targeted therapy candidate.

An official at SK Biopharmaceuticals, said:

We recently expanded our business to digital healthcare. Along with device development, we will find various collaboration tools such as direct investment and technology alliance to create synergy.