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By Lee Hyo-sik
Medytox received a court order Friday allowing the company to resume the production, sale and use of three dosage units of Meditoxin, its flagship botulinum toxin product. This means Medytox can sell one of Korea's most popular botox products until the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety decides on whether or not to officially revoke the sales permit issued to the company.
Daejeon High Court lifted the ministry's order to suspend the sale of Meditoxin, which went into effect on April 17, saying the controversial administrative action could inflict irreversible damage to the company. Medytox asked the court to nullify the ministry's order, saying Meditoxin products were safe.
"Given that the petitioner will suffer financial and other damage as a result of (the ministry's) order, it is urgently necessary to prevent such a loss by halting it," the court said in a statement. "The documents submitted (by the ministry) are insufficient to prove that the suspension of its administrative order will cause any significant harm to public health."
The ruling is expected to affect the ministry's decision on whether or not to cancel the license for Meditoxin. The ministry plans to make a final decision after holding a public hearing to gather opinions from various stakeholders Friday.
The ministry decided to suspend the production and use of the botulinum products after the prosecution disclosed the results of its investigation into Medytox's alleged use of an unapproved ingredient to produce the drug, and acquisition of export approval by fabricating efficacy test results.
In response, Medytox asked the court to cancel the ministry's order, saying the Meditoxin products in question were manufactured from December 2012 to June 2015, and had all been used a long time ago.
