South Korean biopharmaceutical firm Medytox Inc., a neurotoxin manufacturer that previously partnered with local drugmaker Allergan, has formed a new domestic subsidiary that’s headquartered in Irvine.
The subsidiary, named Luvantas Inc. and wholly owned by Medytox, will be responsible for sales and marketing of the company’s medical aesthetics products in the U.S. and Canada.
The news, announced Jan. 3, also included two key hires for the company.
Luvantas appointed former Allergan executive Thomas Albright as chief executive and president, and former Emulex and IntraLase exec Stephanie Yee as its chief financial officer.
Expanding into the U.S. is part of Medytox’s “overall global strategy,” Albright said.
“North America is by far the largest marketplace in medical aesthetics,” Albright told the Business Journal.
Medytox, whose stock is traded in Korea and which counts a roughly $1.3 billion valuation, is seeking Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the formulation of a neurotoxin that could improve severe frown lines and crow’s feet.
The submission to the FDA was made in December; the company is aiming to get approval by 2025.
The company said it intends to hire around 60 employees in the next year as it prepares to launch.
Liquid Formula
Medytox says it invented the first liquid, ready-to-use neurotoxin for medical aesthetic purposes in 2006.
Medytox believes its product is less time-consuming and has less potential for human error compared to most dry powder formulations currently available in the market that need to be combined with saline.
Now Medytox wants to bring this formulation to the U.S., but there are several hoops for companies submitting for a Biologics License Application to jump through, Albright said.
“It’s a complicated process, but we feel confident that we put our best foot forward
and utilized some of the best experts in the world to put together our file for the FDA,” Albright said.
Albright brings four decades of experience in healthcare and began his career in medical aesthetics at Irvine’s Allergan as vice president of global Botox strategic marketing.
During his eight-year tenure, Albright helped lead the launch of Botox, Allergan’s best-known product, for cosmetic uses, as well as Latisse, the first FDA-approved treatment to grow eyelashes.
When Albright first joined Allergan in 2000, he remembers being the sole employee dedicated to working on Botox.
Now, there are thousands of people in the department globally, he said.
Stealth Mode
Luvantas has been in stealth mode for more than a year and moved into its Irvine headquarters at 18200 Von Karman Ave. in late 2022, according to Albright.
The company’s base is at the Irvine Towers office complex and is across the street from the local campus of Allergan Aesthetics, which is now part of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV).
It opted to announce itself to the world this month because “we thought it was time to start outreach to potential employees and physicians to collaborate with us,” Albright said.
While Luvantas is based in Irvine, all manufacturing will take place at a Medytox manufacturing plant in South Korea, where the product will then be shipped and distributed in the U.S. and eventually Canada.
The facility can produce more than $370 million worth of products annually, according to its website.
Local Cluster
Medytox adds to the list of overseas aesthetics companies planting their domestic base in Orange County.
The Business Journal was first to report on popular Korean skincare company Riman Inc.’s purchase in November of an Irvine Spectrum-area office, which will be used for its North American operations.
Hugel Inc., another South Korean medical aesthetics company that also has a product that competes with Botox, has its domestic base in Newport Beach.
Lawsuits
Medytox was previously a manufacturing partner for Allergan.
Both companies filed lawsuits against another local neurotoxin-focused aesthetics firm, Evolus Inc. (Nasdaq: EOLS), for its less-expensive version of Botox, Jeuveau, alleging that the Newport Beach-based firm developed Jeuveau using their proprietary manufacturing process.
The sides settled in 2021 after Evolus agreed to pay royalties and $35 million in cash, in addition to issuing 6.8 million shares to Medytox.
Medytox and Allergan first struck a licensing agreement together in 2014 where Allergan paid $65 million for exclusive rights to develop and commercialize Medytox’s neurotoxin product.
The agreement ended in 2021, giving Medytox total control back of the product, according to Albright.
Albright doesn’t see Luvantas being direct competitors with Allergan and believes patient care will benefit from the expanding market.
“Additional botulinum toxin brands in the market only justifies in the minds of potential patients the safety of these products,” Albright said.
