Former Kolon Group Chairman Lee Woong-yeol, suspected of falsely reporting the ingredients of the osteoarthritis gene therapy drug Invossa-K (Invossa), is entering the Seoul Central District Court on the 30th to undergo a warrant hearing. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The arrest warrant requested by the prosecution for Lee Woong-yeol, former chairman of Kolon Group (64), who is considered the central figure in the controversy surrounding the osteoarthritis treatment Invossa-K Injection (Invossa), was dismissed on the 1st.
Kim Dong-hyun, the warrant judge at the Seoul Central District Court, held a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive examination) for the former chairman the day before and dismissed the arrest warrant requested by the prosecution.
Judge Kim stated, "There is insufficient explanation regarding the circumstances and timing when the suspect and other executives became aware of the nature of Invossa," and added, "Considering the suspect's position and the additionally raised charges, there is a lack of explanation for the necessity and appropriateness of detention at this stage."
Earlier, the Criminal Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Chang-soo) filed an arrest warrant on the 25th against the former chairman on charges including violation of the Capital Markets and Financial Investment Business Act (fraudulent transactions, market manipulation) and breach of trust.
The substantive examination of the warrant was originally scheduled for the 29th of last month but was postponed by one day at the request of the former chairman.
According to the prosecution, the former chairman is suspected of manufacturing and selling Invossa’s second component with kidney-derived cells, despite having obtained product approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for cartilage cells in the second component. He is also accused of submitting false documents to obtain approval from the Ministry.
Invossa is an injectable treatment for osteoarthritis composed of two components: the first containing human cartilage cells and the second containing genetically modified cells introduced with cartilage cell growth factor (TGF-β1).
It was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2017 as the first gene therapy in Korea, but after it was revealed that the genetically modified cells in the second component were kidney cells capable of causing tumors, not cartilage cells as stated in the submitted documents at the time of approval, the approval was finally revoked in July last year.
The prosecution included allegations of fraudulent transactions and market manipulation under the Capital Markets Act in the warrant, believing that the former chairman was also involved in the listing of Kolon TissueGene.
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