Medytox "Proves Strain Misuse" vs Daewoong Pharmaceutical "Biased Conclusion and Misjudgment"
[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] More than a month has passed since the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a preliminary ruling on the 'Botulinum Toxin (Botox) War' between Medytox and Daewoong Pharmaceutical, but the conflict appears to be intensifying. Regarding the preliminary ruling document on the trade secret infringement lawsuit involving the theft of botulinum strains disclosed by the ITC, Medytox views it as proof of strain theft, while Daewoong Pharmaceutical considers it a misjudgment.
Medytox stated on the day of the ITC's disclosure of the preliminary ruling document on the trade secret infringement lawsuit involving the theft of botulinum strains, "It has proven Daewoong Pharmaceutical's strain theft allegations with scientific evidence."
Medytox said, "The ITC found that all evidence submitted by both parties supports the fact that Daewoong Pharmaceutical stole Medytox's strains and manufacturing processes," adding, "The claim that Daewoong Pharmaceutical discovered the botulinum strain in soil and independently developed the manufacturing process was also judged to be false."
They continued, "The ITC detailed the vast amount of materials submitted by both companies, testimonies from related parties, and expert DNA analysis results of the strains," emphasizing, "Daewoong Pharmaceutical's claim that the ITC inferred trade secret theft based solely on Medytox's unilateral assertions without solid evidence has been proven groundless."
Earlier, on the 6th of last month (local time), the ITC ruled preliminarily that Daewoong Pharmaceutical infringed Medytox's trade secrets in the 'botulinum strain and manufacturing technology theft' case, siding with Medytox. Along with this, the ITC issued a preliminary ruling to ban the import of Daewoong Pharmaceutical's botulinum toxin product Nabota (U.S. product name Jeuveau) for ten years.
About a month later, on the 6th (local time), as soon as the ITC ruling document was made public, Daewoong Pharmaceutical rebutted, stating, "It is the height of bias and distortion, and merely a conclusion based on inference without concrete evidence." Daewoong Pharmaceutical said, "The ITC administrative law judge made an unfair and biased decision far from the substantive truth to protect domestic industry," adding, "We will clearly impeach the preliminary decision full of serious errors and definitely win in the final decision in November."
On the same day, Daewoong Pharmaceutical countered Medytox's position, saying, "It is merely a translated version that directly cites the ITC's misjudgment," and "There is no theft of strains or manufacturing processes." Daewoong Pharmaceutical raised its voice, saying, "The ITC administrative law judge's judgment is a biased conclusion that unilaterally accepted unproven claims by Medytox," and "It is an unreasonable assertion that ignores scientific facts such as the substantial differences between the strains and processes of the two companies and the limitations of genetic analysis."
Daewoong Pharmaceutical submitted an objection letter to the ITC containing this stance. A Daewoong Pharmaceutical official said, "The essence of this lawsuit is that Medytox, in collaboration with the U.S. pharmaceutical company Allergan, is blocking the entry of K-Bio into the U.S. market."
They added, "If all materials submitted to the ITC are disclosed, the truth will be easily revealed," and said, "If Medytox is confident, there would be no reason to refuse a proper spore identification test that includes genetic analysis of the Allergan strain and verification of the identity of the Medytox strain."
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