Daewoong Pharmaceutical said that a recent test by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has reaffirmed that its botulinum toxin (BTX) strain is different from that of Medytox.

According to Daewoong Pharmaceutical, the ITC test randomly selected and tested BTX strains at its production facility. As a result, Daewoong Pharmaceutical's surveyors observed that its strains formed spores.

"The ITC test reconfirmed that Daewoong's BTX strain formed spores," a company official said. "The result demonstrates that the company's spore is different from that of Medytox, which claimed that its strains do not produce spores under any circumstances."

Daewoong proved that its BTX formed spores through a locally conducted test last Friday.

According to experts, the unique characteristic of Medytos’x Hall A Hyper strain is it does not form spores and that it cannot be found in the soil.

"If Daewoong's BTX strain originated from Medytox, its strain should not have formed spores and could not have been found in the soil," the company said.

Although the ITC investigation is not complete, Medytox is now at a disadvantage as both the local and ITC test outcomes seem to favor Daewoong's claim, it added.

The prospect of Medytox losing the case has become a real possibility as the company had tried to shrug off the recent local test results by saying that the ITC investigation will help reveal the truth.

However, Medytox claimed that Daewoong's test had nothing to do with the ITC investigation and criticized Daewoong for releasing such misleading information.

"ITC has never ordered the two companies to test its products," a Medytox official said. "The ITC order was for experts designated by each company to test the BTX products, but Daewoong's release makes it sound like the spore formation test was ordered by the ITC when in reality an expert hired by the company conducted it."

The order also does not mention a test method that the expert should carry out to compare the two products, he added, stressing that Daewoong's claim regarding the results of spore appraisal is only a narrow interpretation with some details, and Medytox cannot agree with the claim.

"We plan to conduct a variety of tests, including spore formulation and gene sequencing, and submit the data to the ITC to reveal the full truth," the official said.

corea022@docdocdoc.co.kr

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