RF Tech, World's First Honey Botox with National Management Number... "Fundamentally Blocking Strain Controversy"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] RF Tech and its subsidiary RF Bio have succeeded for the first time in the world in isolating and identifying botulinum strains from honey and have been assigned national management numbers.

RF Tech and RF Bio announced on the 15th that they succeeded in isolating and identifying two new strains of Clostridium botulinum type 'A1' from honey obtained in the Central Asia region, completed the reporting procedure to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, and were assigned national management numbers.

Worldwide, botulinum strains have been found in soil, canned foods, etc., and commercialized cases exist, but this is the first time that isolation and identification from natural honey have been successful. RF Bio has secured independent botulinum strains completely free from source controversies.

A company official said, “There have been ongoing controversies regarding strains, such as some companies claiming to have secured strains isolated from soil with genome sequences identical to existing strains. Our company, using an independent screening technology named 'CloScreen,' has isolated and identified strains derived from nature, thereby possessing unique botulinum strains worldwide and fundamentally blocking such controversies.”

In academia, several papers have reported that some honeys are contaminated with botulinum strains. However, until now, there have been no successful cases of isolating and identifying strains from honey. Since last year, RF Tech and RF Bio have started a botulinum toxin pharmaceutical development project, registered one botulinum strain in April last year, and by additionally registering two naturally derived strains this time, they now hold a total of three registered strains.

A company official emphasized, “Based on the two honey-derived strains registered this time, we plan to proceed with the commercialization of botulinum toxin. We will mobilize all our technological capabilities, including strain cultivation technology and toxin isolation and purification technology, to develop premium botulinum toxin pharmaceuticals differentiated from competitors.”

RF Bio is a newly established corporation created in April this year by the spin-off of RF Tech’s bio business division. Once the transfer reporting procedures to related agencies are completed, all assets related to botulinum toxin will be transferred from RF Tech to RF Bio. RF Bio plans to become a comprehensive medical aesthetic company by securing a botulinum toxin pipeline alongside its existing main product, hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers.