Lee Woong-yeol, honorary chairman of Kolon, is not guilty in the first trial of "Suspicious Invossa."

Kolon Group Honorary Chairman Lee Woong-yeol, who was accused of intervening in ingredient manipulation in the process of developing the osteoarthritis treatment "Invossa," was acquitted in the first trial.

The Seoul Central District Court today (29th) acquitted honorary chairman Lee, who was indicted on charges of violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Capital Market Act, and fraud.

The court judged that there was insufficient evidence to admit that Kolon Group officials, including honorary chairman Lee, tried to hide that the FDA's clinical procedures for Invossa had been suspended.

Earlier, Honorary Chairman Lee was put on trial on charges of making more than 15 billion won in sales by administering it to more than 2,000 patients, even though he knew that some ingredients of Invossa were kidney-derived cells different from the approval of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

In addition, Kolon TissueGene was listed on KOSDAQ by falsely explaining or concealing information related to Invossa, including the clinical suspension of the U.S. FDA, to attract more than 200 billion won, and to raise stock prices of affiliates through false disclosures.

Invossa, an injection for osteoarthritis treatment, was licensed for domestic sales in 2017, but the license was revoked in 2019 after it was found to contain ingredients that could cause tumors.