Medytox wins botox patent suit against Daewoong Pharm in Korea

[Image sources: Medytox, Daewoong Pharmaceutical]

South Korea’s Medytox Inc. won a lawsuit against Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. over a botulinum toxin patent, dealing a major blow to the pharmaceutical company that has expanded its botox business in the U.S.

A Seoul Central District Court prohibited Daewoong Pharmaceutical from manufacturing and selling its botox product Nabota, saying that the company appears to have stolen Medytox’s botox strains and manufacturing process.

The court also ordered Daewoong Pharmaceutical to discard its finished and semi-finished products and hand over the strains to Medytox in addition to 40 billion won ($31.5 million) in compensation to Medytox.

In response, Daewoong Pharmaceutical said it will immediately file for suspension of ruling, while seeking an appeal, saying the court’s decision is clearly a misjudgment as it is completely contrary to prosecutors who dropped the case on lack of evidence after extensive investigations in the past.

The two companies have locked horns over the origin of BTX strains since 2017. Medytox is the first Korean company to succeed in mass-producing BTX strains with its license in 2006.

Medytox has claimed that Daewoong Pharmaceutical stole its BTX strains, while Daewoong Pharmaceutical has rebuffed the argument, stating it found its own BTX strain in a barn in Gyeonggi Province.

Medytox also filed a similar suit with the U.S. International Trade Commission against Daewoong Pharmaceutical in 2019. In December 2020, the ITC ruled in favor of Medytox and ordered a 21-month import ban on Daewoong’s products into the U.S.

The Seoul district court said it is judged that the strains of Medytox and Daewoong Pharmaceutical are highly compatible with each other based on the results of gene phylogenetic analysis and indirect evidence. Daewoong Pharmaceutical protested the decision, saying that the court said it is difficult to determine the origin relationship through genetic analysis alone.

It is regrettable that the court made the ruling based on inference, even though it acknowledged that genetic analysis alone could not determine the origin relationship, the pharmaceutical company said in a statement.

The current confrontation between the two companies is expected to continue.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical said it will continue its global expansion, adding there will be no impact on its Nabota business.

Medytox said it will continue efforts to protect its patent, adding it will promptly review additional legal measures against companies that illegally acquire and commercialize its trade secret.

In March last year, Medytox filed a complaint with the ITC against Hugel Inc., the largest player in the South Korean botox market.