<Anchor> The

prosecution investigating suspicions surrounding Invossa, a drug that had been canceled after raising expectations as the world's first gene therapy for arthritis, was the first to call and investigate the former chairman of the former Kolon Group. It has been a year since I started a full-scale investigation.

Reporter Lee Hyun-young was covered alone.

<Reporter>

Former Kolon Group Chairman Woong-Yeol Lee attended the Seoul Central Prosecutor's Office and was investigated as an suspect today (18th).

It has been four months since President Woo-Seok Lee of Kolon Life Sciences was charged with seven charges, including violations of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law and Capital Market Law, on February 20 in relation to the incident.

Prosecutors believe that the former chairman had previously learned that he had changed the component of Invosakei, a gene therapy for osteoarthritis, from chondrocytes to kidney-derived cells.

In addition, the prosecution judged that Kolon Tissuegene, who led the development of Invossa, sent false data to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety during the listing process in 2017.

Earlier, prosecutors banned Lee from leaving the country shortly after launching an investigation into the incident in June last year after accusing the Ministry of Food and Drugs.

After prosecuting President Lee Woo-suk, prosecutors reviewed the data obtained for four months, prepared further investigations, and prepared to summon former President Lee.

However, in the first trial in April, Lee Woo-suk said, "We have confirmed several times in the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety that there were no problems with the safety of insurers."

(Video coverage: Doowon Yang, Video editing: Yumira)