Korean private equity firm VIG Partners has merged LG Chem's aesthetics business (bought for roughly 200 billion won, about $144M), thread-lift maker Ultra V, and botulinum toxin developer ATGC into a single new company, LYV Sciences, unveiled around June 20, 2026 at the LINK Global symposium in Seoul. The point of stitching those three together is a vertically integrated supplier that sells across the categories most clinics buy weekly: HA fillers (the YVOIRE line, already in 45-plus countries), biostimulators (ULTRACOL, a PDO-microsphere product registered in 30-plus countries), and toxin (ATGC-110, branded Botaluma).

What that means for you is one more full-portfolio Korean house lining up against Hugel, Medytox and Classys, the names that already drive a lot of price competition on fillers and devices. LYV is led by Han Jong-hyun, formerly president of Dongwha Pharm and president and CEO of Dong-A Socio Holdings, so this is run by pharma operators rather than a startup. The stated primary growth target is botulinum toxin, pursued on a dual track of running its own clinical development while also signing licensing deals, with Europe and the United States named as the priorities.

For a US or European clinic, none of this changes your shelf this quarter. It is a read on where toxin supply is heading over the next few years: more Korean entrants, more of them carrying a matched filler-and-biostimulator catalog, and more of them aiming squarely at your market instead of staying regional. Worth remembering when a rep pitches you a new toxin or a bundled filler deal, since the company behind it may be barely a year old.

Source: Korea Biomedical Review — https://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=32130