[THE INVESTOR] Daewoong Pharmaceuticals said on Jan. 11 that the company has received regulatory approval from Chinese authorities to run clinical trials of its botulinum toxin treatment with hopes to launch by 2020.

The Seoul-based drug maker got the green light from the Chinese Food and Drug Administration for clinical trials of Nabota, a wrinkle smoother developed by the firm, which had been filed in June 2016.

With this, Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s Chinese unit will begin phase 3 clinical studies on Nabota for the treatment of glabellar lines between the eyebrows this year and complete it by 2019.

“A swift regulatory process is expected as it took only 18 months for us to gain approval while other rivals had to wait about 30 months for their products,” Daewoong Pharmaceuticals Vice Chairman Lee Jong-wook.

Since its launch in 2014 here, Nabota has been expanding its overseas foothold. Currently, the neurotoxin is available in Thailand, the Philippines, South America, Mexico and Vietnam. The firm has also struck export agreements to sell its wrinkle treatment in countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as India.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)