[Exclusive] Jeon Seung-ho, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, "ITC Objection Accepted... Best Outcome"

ITC Accepts Daewoong Pharmaceutical's Objection

Seung-ho Jeon, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Regarding the botulinum toxin strain war between Medytox and Daewoong Pharmaceutical, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) decided on the 21st (local time) to accept Daewoong Pharmaceutical's objections. Since the ITC announced that it will review part of the preliminary ruling, attention is focused on how this will affect the final judgment in November.

Jeon Seung-ho, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, stated in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 22nd, "Most of the objections raised, including the plaintiff's standing, jurisdiction, and the establishment of trade secrets, which are fundamental to the lawsuit, have been accepted," and evaluated, "This is the best scenario among the expected outcomes. It couldn't be better."

Earlier, in the preliminary ruling in July, the ITC sided with Medytox and issued an import ban order on Daewoong Pharmaceutical's botulinum toxin 'Nabota' (U.S. name Jeuveau). In response, Daewoong Pharmaceutical submitted an objection to the preliminary ruling on the 19th of the same month.

CEO Jeon said, "Since most of the items we raised objections to were accepted, not just one or two, we expect a positive impact on the final judgment," and added, "It seems that the ITC commissioners found errors in many contentious issues after reviewing the objections."

With the acceptance of the objections, Daewoong Pharmaceutical expects a high possibility that the final judgment in November will be favorable to the company. CEO Jeon emphasized, "As a result of this decision, the case is effectively being reconsidered from the beginning," and said, "We will do our best based on these results in the final judgment."