April 16, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Medytox, South Korea’s largest botulinum toxin product maker, said on Jan. 23 it has started airing its TV commercials urging its smaller domestic rivals to reveal the sources of their anti-wrinkle products, reigniting the yearlong debate.

Making clear the sources of BTX strain is not about “a struggle between companies for their interest” but to call for transparency of peer firms to make Made-in-Korea products to stand firmly in the global market, Medytox CEO Jung Hyun-ho said in a press release. 

Related:
Medytox takes shot at BTX rivals ahead of US entry


“As for our intention for launching the TV commercials, all concerned companies should disclose the entire genome sequence of botulinum strains as soon as possible,” he said.

His remark sought to defend himself against criticism that the company is bringing the issue back to the surface again in order avoid losing overseas market share to competitors like Hugel and Daewoong Pharmaceutical.

Medytox is dominant in the Korean facial injectable arena, but Daewoong and Hugel are making notably faster progress in global clinical trials.

In November last year, Medytox raised the suspicion that second-tier firm Daewoong Pharmaceutical may have stolen the key ingredient of its beauty drug, citing identical genome sequence of its BTX strain.

Daewoong and Hugel have rejected Medytox’s suggestion, claiming their anti-wrinkle fighting products have been proven for safety and efficiency through clinical trials, and that they have got approval from health authorities.

According to Medytox, there are more than eight companies that announced their BTX-related business in South Korea, but apart from it, none of them disclosed how they obtained the strain of the bacterium.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)