Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Shares of Kolon Life Science plunge 60% on Invossa fiasco
Kolon Life Science's Invossa
By Nam Hyun-woo
By Nam Hyun-woo
Kolon Life Science CEO Lee Woo-sok
The shares of Kolon Life Science have plunged nearly 60 percent a month after the company announced an ingredient error in its Invossa osteoarthritis gene medicine, amid growing suspicions that the company attempted to “conceal” the critical mishap.
Kolon Life Science ended at 30,550 won, down 25.4 percent from a session earlier, after wandering near its bottom limit designated by the bourse operator throughout the session. From 75,200 won on March 29, the fresh price has declined by 59.38 percent.
On April 1, the company announced that Invossa contained cell ingredients that were different from those used at the time of the drug's approval in Korea in 2017, and the stock nosedived by 29.92 percent to 52,700 won from a session earlier. The company also said sales of the drug in Korea and phase three clinical trial for sales in the U.S. were all suspended.
After the April 1 plunge, the stock remained between 47,000 won and 48,000 won, and suffered another 8.19 percent plunge to 44,000 won on April 16, when the Korean drug authority announced a thorough investigation on the case.
Tuesday's drop came after the company's U.S. body, Kolon TissueGene, said in a May 3 regulatory filing that it has told Kolon Life Science that some of the Invossa ingredients were derived from kidneys on March 2017, four months before the company received the drug's approval by reporting the same ingredients were derived from cartilage.
The regulatory filing is in stark contrast with Kolon Life Science's claim on April 1 that it was not aware of the ingredient error until March this year. Describing the error as “mislabeling,” Kolon Life Science has been stressing that the drug is still safe and no side effects were reported.
As the controversy is being fueled, Kolon TissueGene issued a statement saying it “will make an effort to resume the clinical trial of Invossa in the U.S. and it will cooperate with the domestic drug authority's investigation,” but did not elaborate on why it did not announce the error.
Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it is taking Kolon Life Science and Kolon TissueGene's suspicious practices “very seriously” and will launch an on-site investigation into the latter in the U.S.
Over the Kolon Group units' suspicious moves, civic groups are raising their voices demanding police investigations into the companies.
“Kolon Life Science is under an undeniable allegation that it has concealed the ingredient error on purpose,” Korea Alliance of Patients Organization said in a statement. “Suspicions about the company's making and selling drugs containing unauthorized ingredients, deceiving patients and fabricating public papers should be investigated by police.”