Newly-Formed Arvelle Therapeutics Acquires Exclusive Rights from SK Biopharmaceuticals to Develop and Commercialize Cenobamate in Europe
14.2.2019 11:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
SK Biopharmaceuticals and Arvelle Therapeutics GmbH today announced that they have entered into an exclusive licensing agreement for Arvelle to develop and commercialize cenobamate in Europe. Cenobamate is a novel, small molecule investigational antiepileptic drug for the potential treatment of partial-onset seizures in adult patients. Under the agreement, SK Biopharmaceuticals will receive an upfront payment of $100 million and is eligible to receive up to $430 million upon achievement of certain regulatory and commercial milestones in addition to royalties on net sales generated in Europe. SK Biopharmaceuticals will have an option to obtain a significant equity stake in Arvelle and will also retain commercial rights for all non-European territories. Cenobamate was discovered and developed by SK Biopharmaceuticals from inception through to the acceptance of a New Drug Application (NDA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“We are very pleased to enter into this licensing agreement with Arvelle, as it provides important validation of the global potential for cenobamate as a new treatment option for adults with partial-onset seizures,” said Dr. Jeong Woo Cho, President and CEO of SK Biopharmaceuticals. “Arvelle’s experienced leadership team and focus on CNS disorders make them the ideal partner to advance the development and commercialization of our compound in Europe.”
Arvelle Therapeutics is a newly created company that received one of the largest initial financing commitments for a European-focused biopharmaceutical company from a global syndicate of investors that include NovaQuest, LSP, BRV Capital Management, Andera Partners, and H.I.G. BioHealth Partners. Mark Altmeyer has been named President and CEO of Arvelle. Altmeyer brings more than 30 years of global biopharmaceutical experience to Arvelle. As President and CEO of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., Altmeyer oversaw the growth of Abilify® into a multi-billion-dollar product. Most recently, he served as President and Chief Commercial Officer of Axovant Sciences and previously led the neuroscience business unit at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Altmeyer is joined by a talented team of colleagues from Axovant with deep experience in CNS drug development and global commercialization. Arvelle intends to file a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for cenobamate for partial-onset seizures in adult patients based on the data generated from SK Biopharmaceuticals’ global clinical trial program.
“We launched Arvelle to bring truly innovative CNS products to patients suffering from serious neurological conditions and cenobamate is the perfect first pipeline product,” said Altmeyer. “Given the data generated in clinical trials and the FDA acceptance of the NDA, we believe cenobamate has the potential to be an important antiepileptic drug treatment option for adult patients suffering from partial-onset seizures. We appreciate the support and validation of our investors and are very enthusiastic about our potential in the European market.”
“We are very excited to invest in the talented team at Arvelle on this new venture,” said Martijn Kleijwegt, Managing Partner of LSP. “SK Biopharmaceuticals has done an excellent job on the discovery and development of cenobamate and we believe that Arvelle is the right company to gain EU approval for cenobamate and ultimately bring it to patients in Europe.”
About Cenobamate
Cenobamate (YKP3089) was discovered by SK Biopharmaceuticals and SK life science and is being investigated for the potential treatment of partial-onset seizures (also known as “focal seizures”) in adult patients. Cenobamate’s mechanism of action is not fully understood, but it is believed to work through two separate mechanisms: enhancing inhibitory currents through positive modulation of GABA-A receptors and decreasing excitatory currents by inhibiting the persistent sodium current.
Global trials for adults with partial-onset seizures are ongoing to evaluate cenobamate safety. An additional clinical trial is investigating cenobamate safety and efficacy for another form of epilepsy in adult patients.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the filing of the New Drug Application for cenobamate for the potential treatment of partial-onset seizures in adults in February 2019.
Cenobamate is not approved by the FDA, European Medicines Agency (EMA) or any other regulatory authorities. Safety and efficacy have not been established.
About SK Biopharmaceuticals
SK Biopharmaceuticals is focused on research and development of treatments for disorders of central nervous system (CNS) and cancer. SK Biopharmaceuticals is an affiliate of SK Group, the second largest conglomerate in Korea.
Currently, SK Biopharmaceuticals is conducting basic research for the development of innovative new drugs at its research center in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, Korea. Further, the company is pursuing global clinical development and direct marketing through its U.S. subsidiary SK Life Science, Inc., in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA.
SK Biopharmaceuticals has a pipeline of eight compounds in development for the treatment of CNS disorders including epilepsy, sleep disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, among others. The first product the company is planning to commercialize, cenobamate (YKP3089), is an investigational compound for the potential treatment of partial-onset seizures in adult patients. The NDA for cenobamate for the potential treatment of partial-onset seizures in adult patients is currently under review by the FDA. For more information, visit SK Biopharmaceuticals’ website at www.skbp.com/eng.
About Arvelle Therapeutics
Arvelle Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company with the mission of bringing innovative solutions to patients suffering from CNS disorders. Arvelle is responsible for the development and commercialization of cenobamate, an investigational antiepileptic drug, in the European market. Arvelle is headquartered in Switzerland and received one of the largest initial financing commitments for a European-focused biopharmaceutical company with investments from a global syndicate including NovaQuest Capital Management, LSP, BRV Capital Management, Andera Partners and H.I.G. BioHealth Partners. More information is available at http://arvelletx.com/.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190214005290/en/
Contact information
For Arvelle Therapeutics:
Mike Beyer, Sam Brown Inc.
mikebeyer@sambrown.com
312-961-2502
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
AMINA Becomes the First Regulated Bank to Integrate Leading Crypto Payments Network, Mesh16.7.2026 09:30:00 EEST | Press release
AMINA Bank AG (“AMINA”), a Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)-regulated crypto bank with global reach, today becomes the first regulated bank to integrate Mesh, the leading crypto payments network. The integration embeds Mesh’s verified deposit technology directly into AMINA’s online banking platform. This allows clients to verify wallet ownership, and deposit stablecoins and digital assets in a single, streamlined flow across more than 300 wallet providers. No more copying wallet addresses by hand, switching between external tools, or completing the multi-step verification the process historically required. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260715917516/en/ AMINA is the first regulated bank on Mesh. Myles Harrison, Chief Product Officer at AMINA, said: “Despite the incredible progress the industry has made in institutional adoption, crypto remains difficult to move safely and efficiently betwe
Garvan Institute of Medical Research Joins Parse Biosciences’ Certified Service Provider Network15.7.2026 23:00:00 EEST | Press release
Parse Biosciences, a QIAGEN company, and the leader in scalable and accessible single cell sequencing, today announced that the Genomics Platform Core Facility within the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has joined its Certified Service Provider (CSP) Program. The partnership broadens access to high-quality, scalable single cell sequencing across Australia, the wider Asia-Pacific region, and beyond. Garvan is one of Australia's preeminent medical research institutions, with the Genomics Platform having deep experience in cell sorting, capture, and sequencing. As a Certified Service Provider, Garvan will offer Parse's Evercode WT kits to researchers across the region. "We see a growing number of requests for Parse projects and find the technology easy to implement and run, generating great data," said Chris O'Keeffe, Cellular Genomics Lead at the Garvan Institute. "Garvan is one of the most respected biomedical research institutions in the world, and we're honored to welcome them to
Grafana Labs Named a Leader in 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Observability Platforms and Positioned Furthest in Completeness of Vision15.7.2026 21:21:00 EEST | Press release
Grafana Labs, the company behind the open observability cloud, today announced it has been named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Observability Platforms for the third consecutive year, and positioned furthest on the Completeness of Vision axis for the second year running. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260715814984/en/ 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Observability Platforms We believe this placement reflects where the market is headed: toward open, composable observability that helps teams in the AI era understand systems that are increasingly complex and agentic, and rapidly scaling thanks to AI-assisted engineering. A Platform Built for the AI Era According to Grafana Labs’ 2026 Observability Survey, operational complexity and overhead are now the top observability challenge, even as adoption of managed observability continues to climb, with half of organizations now using managed observabili
Spectro Cloud Raises $100 Million Series D to Help Customers Move AI Infrastructure Into Production Across Enterprise, Public Sector, Neocloud and Sovereign Cloud Environments15.7.2026 19:20:00 EEST | Press release
Spectro Cloud, a leading provider of AI infrastructure management software, today announced it has raised more than $100 million in an oversubscribed Series D funding round led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with strategic participation from AMD Ventures, Ericsson, LG Technology Ventures, and Maximus. The new funding brings Spectro Cloud’s total capital raised to $260 million and will accelerate the company’s mission to help enterprises, public sector organizations, neoclouds and sovereign clouds build and operate production AI infrastructure with greater control over cost, security and governance. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260715551858/en/ Spectro Cloud raises $100 million Series D funding round to accelerate global adoption of production AI infrastructure. Learn more at spectrocloud.com. Organizations are spending billions on AI silicon and compute capacity. But silicon alone does not
K-Beauty Goes Global: Sales Surge 53% as Korean Innovation Reshapes Beauty Growth15.7.2026 17:00:00 EEST | Press release
NIQ (NYSE: NIQ), a global leader in consumer intelligence, today released new findings showing K-Beauty has become a rapidly growing global beauty segment, with value sales up 53% year-over-year and 131% over the past two years. The data points to a broader shift in beauty growth, as regional innovation, social commerce and digitally driven consumer demand increasingly shape what scales globally. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260715867578/en/ K-Beauty accelerates across global markets In its latest report, K-Beauty Goes Global, NIQ shows how Korean beauty is reshaping consumer expectations, accelerating innovation cycles and redefining competitive dynamics across the global beauty market. What began as a culturally driven trend now offers a broader signal about the future of beauty: regional trends are increasingly driving global opportunity, and brands need timely intelligence to know which signals will sca
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom