Daewoong, Medytox differ in interpreting US trade agency's decision

Daewoong Pharmaceutical will resume the sales of its botulinum toxin (BTX) product, Nabota, in America, as the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) withdrew its import ban on Tuesday.

The decision came after Medytox had requested the ITC to withdraw its order as part of the three-party settlement among Medytox, its U.S. partner Allergan, and Daewoong's U.S. partner Evolus in March. Daewoong also submitted its intention to agree with the withdrawal in April.

Despite the agreement, Daewoong simultaneously filed a request to invalidate the ITC's final judgment that Daewoong infringed on Medytox's manufacturing process trade secrets.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has lifted its import and sales ban on Daewoong's BTX product, Nabota, in America.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has lifted its import and sales ban on Daewoong's BTX product, Nabota, in America.

The ITC rejected Daewoong's request to nullify its final ruling, and Medytox and Daewoong released different opinions over the rejection.

Medytox believes that ITC rejected Daewoong Pharmaceutical's request for invalidation of the final judgment and plans to use the evidence related to the final decision in a separate civil lawsuit against Daewoong in Korea.

Daewoong, on the other hand, stresses that if the U.S. federal circuit appeals court dismisses the company's appeal regarding the ITC's final decision, it will automatically nullify the latter.

While the two companies continue to brawl over the issue in Korea, the ITC's decision has put an end to the three-year-long dispute between the two in the U.S.

In February 2019, Allergan and Medytox filed a lawsuit against Daewoong and Evolus, claiming that the two had stolen trade secrets from Medytox to develop Nabota.

In December last year, the ITC made its final ruling that Evolus and Daewoong manufactured Nabota with a stolen secret process and imposed a 21-month ban on imports and selling of Nabota in the U.S.

In March, however, Medytox, Allergan, and Evolus reached a three-party agreement where Evolus agreed to pay settlement money and royalties from Nabota sales to Medytox and Allergan. Evolus also agreed to issue about 6.76 million shares of common stock to Medytox, making the company the second majority shareholder of Evolus.

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