Following Daewoong Pharmaceutical(Daewoong), Medytox entered into a court battle with Hugel and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) over the source of the botulinum toxin (Botox) strain.

In February, Medytox won part of a lawsuit filed by Daewoong for infringing on its trade secrets, ending the six-year botox war between the two companies.

On February 10, the Seoul Central District Court adjudicated in favor of the plaintiff in the first trial of a lawsuit filed by Medytox against Daewoong for a 50 billion won business secret infringement claim. According to the ruling, Daewoong Pharmaceutical must pay 40 billion won to Medytox and discard finished products made by Daewoong using some strains. The court ordered Daewoong Pharmaceutical to hand over the botulinum strain to Medytox.

However, Medytox and Daewoong expressed opposing views about the judgment of the first trial court. Unlike Medytox, which claims a ruling based on scientific evidence, Daewoong Pharmaceutical responds that the verdict is biased and arbitrary.

Unlike general court decisions made public after a court decision, this ruling was not made public due to the court's non-disclosure policy.

An official from Daewoong said, “We understand that the court decided not to disclose the judgment of the first civil trial because it contained information related to trade secrets.”

However, Medytox is in the position that there is no reason to keep the ruling private. A Medytox official said, "I don't know exactly why the court kept it private, but we didn't request it."

A legal expert said, "In cases where the judgment is not disclosed in a civil lawsuit, it is almost always the case that one of the parties to the lawsuit applies to the court for reasons such as trade secrets."

On the 22nd of last month, the Seoul High Prosecutor’s Office ordered a re-investigation of Daewoong on charges of violating the Industrial Technology Protection Act. A re-investigation order instructs a re-investigation when a higher prosecutor's office receives an appeal or a re-appeal and determines insufficient parts in the investigation.

In this case, a former researcher who worked for Medytox stole botulinum strain technology by signing an advisory contract with Daewoong. Daewoong subsequently sued Daewoong for publishing the technology as if they had developed it. The 12th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office was cleared of charges in February of last year, but according to the decision of the Seoul High Prosecutor's Office, the successor Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office's Information Technology Crime Investigation Department took charge of the investigation.

Medytox plans to focus on the lawsuit with Hugel, considering that the case against Daewoong has been concluded due to a series of legal processes this year.

Medytox and Hugel, another botox company, are fighting the second botox war. In March last year, Medytox sued Hugel to ITC like Daewoong Pharmaceutical, claiming that the botulinum toxin strain and manufacturing process were stolen. On the 8th, the ITC dismissed Hugel's request for an 'early termination of the lawsuit' and set the final judgment date to October next year.

As with Daewoong, the issue in this lawsuit is also where Hugel's botox strain came from.

Previously, Daewoong consistently claimed that the strain was found in the soil near Gaecheon, Pogok-eup, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do. On the other hand, Hugel changed its position on the origin of the strain several times. In 2006, Hugel reported to The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (at that time, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) that it was separated from rotten canned food. However, in October 2016, the source was corrected as discarded food waste, and in 2020 as canned beans.

Regarding the change in source, Hugel officials insisted that they did not change their words, saying, "Both canned food and canned beans are food, and strains are isolated from their spoilage."

He continued, “Unlike scientists, it was just conveyed (with a change of words) through food waste or canned food to make it easier for the general public to understand.”

Some in the industry also hear stories of Hugel's proposal for an agreement over the recent ruling that Daewoong Pharmaceutical must pay 40 billion won in damages to Medytox. A Hugel official said, "We have no intention of reaching an agreement."

An official from Medytox said, "The issue of the lawsuit against Hugel is the source of the botox strain (as with the corresponding pharmaceuticals)." For some reason, the other parties in the lawsuit hide this information.”

Then, he insisted, "It is just a matter of disclosing information about the strain, like global companies that have Botox strains."

By_BK Min, KDFN kdf@kdfnews.com

The summary of this article in Korean is as follows.

■보톡스 2차 전쟁도 '출처' 싸움... 메디톡스 "정보공개하면 될 일" vs 휴젤 "합의 없다"

메디톡스가 대웅제약에 이어 휴젤과 보툴리늄 톡신(보톡스) 균주 출처를 두고 미국 국제무역위원회(ITC)에 휴젤을 제소했다. 

지난 2월 메디톡스는 대웅제약에 자사의 영업비밀을 침해당했다며 낸 소송에서 일부 승소해 두 회사의 6년 보톡스 전쟁은 일단 마침표를 찍었다.

2월 10일 서울중앙지법 민사합의61부는 메디톡스가 대웅제약을 상대로 제기한 500억원 규모의 영업비밀 침해금지 등의 청구 소송 1심에서 원고 일부승소 판결했다. 판결에 따라 대웅제약은 메디톡스에 400억원을 지급하고, 대웅제약이 일부 균주를 활용해 만든 완제품을 폐기해야 한다. 재판부는 또 대웅제약에 보툴리눔 균주를 메디톡스에 넘기라고 명령했다.

그러나 메디톡스와 대웅제약은 이번 1심 재판부의 판결문에 대해 상반된 입장을 보이고 있다. 과학적 증거에 입각한 판결이라는 메디톡스와는 달리, 대웅제약은 편향적이고 자의적인 판결이라는 반응이다. 

메디톡스는 올해 일련의 법적 과정으로 인해 대웅제약과의 소송은 일단락된 것으로 보고 휴젤과의 소송에 집중한다는 계획이다. 

메디톡스와 또 다른 보톡스 회사 휴젤은 2차 보톡스 전쟁을 진행하고 있다. 지난해 3월 메디톡스는 보툴리눔 톡신 균주∙제조공정을 도용했다며 대웅제약과 같은 방식으로 휴젤을 ITC에 제소했다. 지난 8일 ITC는 휴젤이 요청한 '소송 조기 종료'를 기각하고, 최종 판결일을 내년 10월로 결정한 바 있다. 

대웅제약과 마찬가지로 이번 소송의 쟁점도 휴젤의 보톡스 균주가 어디에서 온 것인지의 여부다. 

메디톡스 관계자는 "휴젤과의 소송 쟁점은 (대응제약과 마찬가지로) 보톡스 균주에 대한 출처"라며, "일반적으로 새로운 균주에 대해서는 발견한 사람, 장소, 시간, 균주의 DNA 정보 등이 특정되기 마련인데 어떤 이유에서인지는 모르겠지만 소송 상대방들은 이 정보를 꼭꼭 숨기고 있다"고 전했다.

이어 "보톡스 균주를 보유하고 있는 글로벌 회사들처럼 해당 균주에 대한 정보를 공개하면 될 일"이라고 주장했다.   

박성재 기자 kdf@kdfnews.com