Biohaven could get up to $795M in epilepsy alliance with SK Bio

News Business Deals Biohaven could get up to $795M in epilepsy alliance with SK Bio August 26, 2026 | 2 min read | Tristan Manalac Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email Print At the center of Biohaven’s agreement with SK Biopharmaceutical is the ion channel platform and the lead epilepsy candidate opakalim, for which Phase 2/3 data are expected later this year. Biohaven is licensing out its Kv7 platform and lead epilepsy asset to Seoul-based SK Biopharmaceutical in a deal that could rack up nearly $800 million in payments.Under the terms of the agreement, announced Wednesday, Biohaven is looking at $400 million in a near-term cash infusion, including a $350 million tranche payable at closing and $50 million payable next year. Meanwhile, development and regulatory milestones could hit up to $150 million.On top of these considerations, SK Bio has agreed to assume up to $185 million of Biohaven’s milestone obligations under a February 2022 agreement with Knopp Biosciences, through which Biohaven gained the ion channel platform.

The South Korean developer has also agreed to take over up to $60 million in milestone payments related to the technology.All told, the Wednesday deal could reach up to $795 million in total value, money that would beef up Biohaven’s cash position. As of June 30, the company had $270.5 million in cash, equivalents, marketable securities and restricted cash.In return for its investment, SK Bio will receive an exclusive global license to Biohaven’s Kv7 ion channel platform and the lead epilepsy asset opakalim, an oral daily selective potassium channel activator that is currently in development for focal epilepsy. The Phase 2/3 RISE3 trial for opakalim is ongoing, with topline data expected in the back half of 2026, according to the Wednesday announcement.The deal comes as Biohaven enters what William Blair analysts in an Aug.

11 note called a “catalyst-rich period”—one that is “not without risk but is potentially transformative.” One of these catalysts is the RISE3 readout, which is a main focus for investors, according to the firm.Aside from RISE3, Biohaven is also anticipating mid-stage data for taldefgrobep alfa before the year ends. The molecule is an investigational myostatin and activin receptor blocker being studied for obesity. Biohaven had previously been developing taldefgrobep alfa for spinal muscular atrophy but pivoted development plans after a late-stage stumble in November 2024.Biohaven is positioning taldefgrobep alfa as a muscle-preserving weight loss therapy.

“Blocking myostatin signaling optimizes skeletal muscle growth,” Peter Ackerman, senior vice president of clinical development at Biohaven, told BioSpace ahead of the American Diabetes Association meeting in June. “We believe that we can bring higher quality of weight loss.” Obesity Biohaven looks to obesity to bounce back from run of clinical and regulatory failures After trial flops in spinal muscular atrophy, depression and bipolar disorder—and a costly rare disease drug rejection—Biohaven is undergoing a reset, recasting its former SMA candidate for obesity. June 1, 2026 · 5 min read · Heather McKenzie Read more Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email Print Neuroscience Asia Tristan Manalac Tristan is BioSpace‘s senior staff writer.

Based in Metro Manila, Tristan has more than eight years of experience writing about medicine, biotech and science. He can be reached at tristan.manalac@biospace.com, tristan@tristanmanalac.com or on LinkedIn.