SK Biopharmaceuticals (326030.KS) has received an "AAA" rating, the highest available, in Morgan Stanley Capital International's ESG assessment for the third consecutive year.
The company said on Sept. 14 that it had earned the AAA rating for a third straight year. It is the first Korean pharmaceutical company to hold the top grade for three consecutive years and is currently the only one in the country with an AAA rating.
The MSCI ESG assessment evaluates how well a company manages key environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities relative to global peers in the same industry. A recent revision to the methodology tightened standards for transparency and supporting documentation on corporate ESG activities.
In this year's assessment, SK Biopharmaceuticals scored highly in areas including corporate behavior, human capital development and product quality and safety. In corporate behavior, its ethical management systems — including its compliance framework and accounting and tax transparency — were viewed favorably, while in human capital development, its employee skill-building programs and policies aimed at fostering a good workplace culture drew positive marks.
In product quality and safety, the company was credited with managing related risks through its quality control system and a certification framework that meets global standards. SK Biopharmaceuticals has joined Rx-360, a global initiative to strengthen quality and safety across pharmaceutical supply chains, and is expanding employee training on international good practice standards for pharmaceutical quality management, known as GxP.
The company is also expanding its creation of social value on the back of drug development and business growth. Cenobamate, its epilepsy treatment, has been prescribed to more than 300,000 patients worldwide on a cumulative basis. The company calculated its social value creation in 2025 at 498.7 billion won ($359 million), of which 452.4 billion won came from social performance, including improvements in quality of life delivered through its products and services.
"Maintaining an MSCI ESG AAA rating for three consecutive years, as the first Korean pharmaceutical company to do so, is a highly meaningful achievement," said Lee Dong-hoon, president of SK Biopharmaceuticals. "We will continue to expand social value through innovative new drugs and business growth, and strengthen the foundation for sustainable growth through ESG management that meets global standards."
