Former Kolon Chairman Lee Woong-yeol to Be Detained Today Over 'Invossa Suspicion'

Lee Woong-yeol, former chairman of Kolon Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The decision on whether to detain former Kolon Group Chairman Lee Woong-yeol (64) will be made on the 29th.

At 9:30 a.m. on the same day, Judge Kim Dong-hyun, in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, will hold a pre-arrest interrogation (warrant substantive examination) for Lee, who is accused of violating the Capital Markets and Financial Investment Business Act (fraudulent transactions, market manipulation, etc.) and breach of trust and bribery.

The decision on Lee’s detention is expected to be made late in the afternoon or early the next morning.

Lee is considered the ultimate person responsible for the controversy surrounding the osteoarthritis treatment Invossa-K Injection (Invossa).

Invossa is an osteoarthritis treatment injection composed of two components: Component 1 containing human cartilage cells and Component 2 containing genetically modified cells introduced with cartilage cell growth factor (TGF-β1).

It was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2017 as the first gene therapy in Korea, but after it was revealed that the genetically modified cells in Component 2 were not cartilage cells as stated in the submitted data at the time of approval but kidney cells that could cause tumors, the approval was finally revoked in July last year.

Lee is accused of manufacturing and selling Invossa Component 2 with kidney-derived cells while having obtained product approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for cartilage cells. He is also accused of submitting false documents to obtain approval from the Ministry.

The prosecution included allegations of fraudulent transactions and market manipulation under the Capital Markets Act in the warrant, believing that Lee was also involved in the listing of Kolon TissueGene.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.