Daewoong Pharmaceutical "Invalidation of US ITC Final Decision Favoring Medytox"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] The final decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), which had favored Medytox in the dispute over botulinum toxin between Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Medytox, has been nullified.

According to Daewoong Pharmaceutical on the 29th, the ITC invalidated its final decision, including the import ban order on Daewoong Pharmaceutical's botulinum toxin product "Jubo" (the U.S. export name of Nabota).

This follows the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling in July this year that the appeals by Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Medytox against the ITC's final decision were meaningless and dismissed the case.

Previously, in December last year, the ITC had ruled that Daewoong Pharmaceutical infringed on Medytox's trade secrets related to the manufacturing process of botulinum strains and banned the import and sale of Jubo in the U.S. for 21 months. Both companies filed appeals against this decision.

However, in February this year, Daewoong Pharmaceutical's U.S. partner Evolus reached a tripartite settlement with Medytox and Medytox's U.S. partner Allergan, leading Daewoong Pharmaceutical to take the position that appealing was meaningless. In June, Medytox also reached an agreement with Daewoong Pharmaceutical's other U.S. partner, Ionis Biopharma. Consequently, the U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the appeals, and the ITC's final decision was expected to be nullified.

A Daewoong Pharmaceutical official stated, "We are pleased that the legal effect of the ITC's erroneous judgment has been completely nullified. With the ITC's final decision fundamentally invalidated, all risks related to the U.S. botulinum toxin business have been resolved, and we plan to further expand our global market strategy to significantly increase business value."

He added, "Two additional lawsuits filed by Medytox against Daewoong Pharmaceutical in the U.S. were also dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and a dismissal motion was submitted on August 4th to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, with only approval pending. Now that the ITC's final decision has been completely nullified, it will also impact the remaining civil and criminal trial outcomes in Korea," he asserted.

In response, a Medytox official argued, "As the ITC stated in its opinion, even if the ruling is nullified, the related evidence remains valid and will serve as important grounds to prove Daewoong Pharmaceutical's criminal acts in domestic litigation."