The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has acquitted Daewoong Pharmaceutical of charges that the company stole Medytox’s botulinum toxin (BTX) technology.

“As a result of a search and seizure, digital forensic, and statements of related employees, there is no evidence to admit that Medytox's unique botulinum strain or manufacturing process information was leaked to Daewoong Pharmaceutical,” the office said.

prosecution noted that although the two companies' products come from similar source technology, it is unclear whether the similarity is due to technology theft.

Earlier, Medytox claimed that a former researcher who worked at Medytox from 2004 to 2009 signed an advisory contract with Daewoong Pharmaceutical to leak its technology and filed a complaint.

Medytox further alleged that Daewoong falsely reported to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency that the company discovered the botulinum strain on its own, contrary to the truth that the company had stolen technology from Medytox.

After receiving the complaint, the prosecutors seized and searched the headquarters of Daewoong Pharmaceutical in Seoul, its plant in Hwaseong-si, and the research institute in Yongin last August to secure related data. However, after the investigation, the prosecution concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that Daewoong used Medytox's unique botulinum strain or manufacturing process information.

The acquittal will likely end the five-year-long dispute between the two companies over the origin of Daewoong’s BTX strain.

“The acquittal completely proves that Medytox has made false claims and has drawn unreasonable lawsuits with coercive allegations,” a Daewoong official said to Korea Biomedical Review. “It is also more meaningful in that it overturned the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)'s judgment head-on.”

The company will do its best to reveal the truth in the future and elevate the status of K-Bio, which has been tarnished by lawsuits, he added.

However, Medytox did not agree that the acquittal would end the dispute.

“The prosecution's acquittal of Daewoong is an incomprehensible decision that contradicts the scientific judgment of the U.S. ITC and the investigation request of the KDCA,” a Medytox official said. “Medytox plans to proceed with the appeal process immediately and correct this error.”

The two companies had been engaging in a fierce legal battle for the past five years, which had also spread to 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 importing and selling Nabota in the U.S.

In March, however, Medytox, Allergan, and Evolus reached a three-party agreement, which called for Evolus 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-largest shareholder of Evolus.