Prosecutors raided the Medytox’s headquarters in Ochang, Cheongju on Dec. 26. The raid is believed to have come after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) asked the Cheongju District Prosecutors' Office to investigate the case in July following a public service report by a former Medytox employee.
Meanwhile, the MFDS notified 100 units of Medytoxin (Type A) of the effective period of use from 36 months to 24 months on Dec. 3. As a result, Medytox is recalling some of its products in circulation.
Medytox is South Korea's No. 1 pharmaceutical company in Botox production, and Medytoxin is an injection that is prescribed to improve skin wrinkles.
The MFDS recently ordered the compulsory collection or disuse of Medytoxin products sold overseas after inspecting storage samples collected from its third plant in late August following the report by a former employee.
The former employee, who earlier reported the public interest to the MFDS, claimed Medytox used undiluted solution for research, which were manufactured at inappropriate facilities, for its sales products and manipulated test data.
It also raised suspicions that the company used the manufacturing number of defective products to change to normal products produced later, distributed Medytoxin before getting the item license, and distributed products that were not approved by the state even after the approval.
