SK Biopharm Spinout Launches with $180 Million to Bring Neuroscience Drugs to China

South Korea’s SK Biopharm has launched Ignis Therapeutics in China with a massive $180 million in Series A funding. The newborn biotech will step into the Chinese market with six central nervous system (CNS) drugs licensed from its parent.

The Series A was led by 6 Dimensions (6D) Capital, a Shanghai-based health investment company. The round was also joined by Ruentex Group, KB Investment, WTT investment, Mubadala Investment Company, HBM Healthcare Investments, and Goldman Sachs.

Six Neuroscience Drugs

The assets out-licensed by SK Biopharm to Ignis include: 

• Cenobamate, for partial-onset seizures in epilepsy 
• Solriamfetol, for excessive daytime sleepiness in narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
• Carisbamate, for Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome
• SKL20540, for schizophrenia
• SKL24741, for epilepsy
• SKL13865, for attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Cenobamate was approved by the FDA under the brand name Xcopri in 2019, while it was given the greenlight in Europe this March as Ontozry. The drug has been out-licensed to Ono Pharmaceutical for development and commercialization in Japan. 

Solriamfetol was FDA-approved to treat patients with excessive daytime sleepiness in narcolepsy or OSA in 2019. 

In return for out-licensing six of its pipeline drugs, SK Biopharm will receive an upfront payment of $20 million and a milestone payment of $15 million plus royalties on net sales. The company will also get an equity stake in Ignis worth $150 million, and an option to co-promote the drugs in China.

Dr. Eileen Long, former head of Sanofi China’s CNS business unit, has been tapped to be CEO of Ignis. Dr. Long has mentioned that Ignis’ next step will be to work with SK Biopharma on an ongoing Phase 3 study of ceobamate in adults with partial-onset seizures, adding that Ignis “will be the sole sponsor of all the others for clinical development, taking full responsibility for the regulatory, manufacturing, and commercialization of the six products in Greater China”.

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Joy Lin

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