|
Schering president quits
|
 |
June 27, 2001: 4:16 p.m. ET
Move follows disclosure that drug firm's production problems continue
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Drugmaker Schering-Plough Corp. said Wednesday President and COO Raul E. Cesan has resigned.
Cesan's resignation, effective July 15, comes in the midst of troubled times for Schering-Plough (SGP: down $1.67 to $36.98, Research, Estimates) caused by manufacturing problems.
The maker of No. 1 allergy medication Claritin said June 22 new inspection reports from U.S. regulators indicated the firm has yet to fully resolve manufacturing deficiencies first disclosed in February.
"As I have said publicly, I am committed to delivering on the company's quality and compliance objectives back on its growth track," Chairman and CEO Richard Jay Kogan said.
"Our priorities and our objectives will not be interrupted by this change," Kogan said. "Senior management will absorb his responsibilities."
Mike Krensavage, a drug analyst at Raymond James, said Kogan and Cesan share the blame for unresolved manufacturing problems that the FDA has been complaining about for years.
"Certainly, Cesan was responsible for the factory problems, but ultimately, the responsibility is Kogan's. Kogan needs to solve the problems, or he and Cesan will be working together on their resumes," Krensavage said.
"I believe his resignation indicates that Schering-Plough's problems run deep," Krensavage said.
The announcement of Cesan's resignation came a day ahead of Schering-Plough's annual meeting with analysts in New York. The company was expected to explain how it intends to extricate itself from its plant woes.
Wall Street has been especially concerned about the fate of Clarinex, an experimental allergy treatment meant to be the successor to Schering-Plough's best-selling product, the antihistamine Claritin, which brings in $3 billion a year in sales. The U.S. patent on Claritin expires in late 2002.
Analysts expected Clarinex to be approved as early as last October, in time for the spring 2001 allergy season. But the FDA has said it will not approve the treatment until the quality-control issues are resolved, creating uncertainty about just when the product will finally reach store shelves. 
-- from staff and wire reports
|
|
|
|
|
|
Schering-Plough
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
