Daewoong sued over alleged theft of botulinum toxin

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Thu, November 30, 2023 | 00:17

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Daewoong sued over alleged theft of botulinum toxin

Posted : 2017-10-18 17:02

Updated : 2017-10-19 15:23

Medytox CEO Jung Hyun-ho

Daewoong Pharmaceutical CEO Lee Jong-wook

By Lee Hyo-sik

Medytox, Korea's largest maker of botulinum toxin (BTX), will file a civil lawsuit here against Daewoong Pharmaceuticals, accusing the latter of stealing its strain of the toxin, the company said Wednesday.

The decision came four months after Medytox lodged a civil suit with the Orange County Court in southern California, which recently ordered the litigation to be first dealt with by a Korean court.

The company said it will file the suit by the end of this month, calling on Daewoong to correct its wrongdoing and return the stolen property.

On Oct. 12, the Superior Court of California in the Orange County issued a minute order, saying "The court finds that Korea is an alternative suitable forum in which an action can be brought against all defendants."

"If it turns out that the alternative forum is not suitable after all, this court has the power to lift the stay and proceed with the action in the original forum," the U.S. court said. "The court sets a status conference on a stayed matter for April 13, 2018, at 9 a.m."

Alleging Daewoong illegally obtained its strain of toxin via a former employee who stole it from the lab, Medytox said the court will vindicate its claim.

"In accordance with the U.S. court's minute order, we will initiate the suit in October," a company official said. "The U.S. court clearly stated it will reopen the case if the matter is not settled in Korea."

The official said for the sake of Korea's biopharmaceutical industry, Daewoong must reveal how and when it got its BTX strain and disclose the strain's full DNA sequence.

"It should also agree to hold and take part in an open debate to let independent scientists and other experts clarify the origin of its strain," he said.

But Daewoong spokesman Cho Kyu-chul was not available for comment.

Botulinum toxin is a biopharmaceutical substance used to remove facial wrinkles by paralyzing muscles. The demand for BTX has been growing rapidly in Korea and elsewhere as more people undergo the treatment to look younger. Medytox's BTX product, Meditoxin, is also available in Japan, Thailand, Brazil and dozens of other countries.

Medytox has been insisting its former employee surnamed Lee, who was part of the Meditoxin development team, stole the strain and gave it to an acquaintance at Daewoong in exchange for money and other perks.

It also alleges that Daewoong gave the former employee $120,000 and offered a paid position at a U.S. university for his postdoctoral study.

The company filed the suit in the U.S. a month after Daewoong and its U.S. partner Alphaeon filed for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its BTX strain, Nabota.

Medytox, in cooperation with its U.S. partner Allergan, has been conducting clinical trials in the United States to get approval for Meditoxin. Another local firm, Hugel, has also been implementing clinical trials to obtain approval from the FDA.

leehs@ktimes.com