Kolon Life Science executive arrested for falsifying report on Invossa

Kolon Life Science executives appear at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, on Nov. 4, to attend the hearing that decides whether to issue arrest warrent on their obstruction of justice charge. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

A Kolon Life Science executive has been arrested for his involvement in the company's mislabeling and falsifying of a report on a key ingredient in its gene therapy drug Invossa.

The Seoul Central District Court issued the arrest warrant for the head of the firm's clinical development team, surnamed Cho, early Thursday morning for interfering with the drug authorities' duty.

“Considering the crime and the position of the suspect in the company, it is necessary to arrest him,” the court said.

But the court did not issue a warrant for another executive surnamed Kim, the bioresearch center director, saying it doesn't seem he was deeply involved in the illegality.

According to the prosecution, the two allegedly played a leading role in sending the fraudulent data to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2017 to get approval for Invossa's manufacturing and sale here, even though they were aware that the drug was using cells originating from the kidney, a different material from cartilage-originated cells, which the company had initially reported.

It was the prosecution's second attempt to take the two executives into custody. It earlier requested the warrant for them on Oct. 30 but the request was rejected. Prosecutors then sought the warrant again last Friday after questioning the two again and submitting their additional crime details to the court.