He was the more sober and analytical one, and I was the dreamer. Puskar and Panoz had identified a very real problem within the pharmaceutical industry—smaller cities and rural communities often had to pay higher prices due to insufficient access to newer medications on the market. It was around that time that Panoz met a supplier from Detroit named Stanley Tutag who supplied Mylan with a variety of newer products, including chelated iron for anemics.
As the company expanded into production, Puskar and Panoz hired Bernard Herman, a veteran drugmaker in Philadelphia. In , Mylan moved the company to Morgantown and built a new manufacturing facility for their employees. According to Panoz, Mylan Pharmaceuticals drastically changed the pharmaceutical industry. There was an opportunity to produce empty, two-piece gelatin capsules, and at that time there were only two companies in the world producing them—Parke Davis and Eli Lilly.
We got some contracts and bought the foot machines. We were starting from scratch where a lot of people had been doing it for years. In production, this was a very important aspect because if a capsule full of medication came apart in packaging, it would contaminate the whole drum of pills.
This move led to producing for other companies, which led to low cost production and expanding the generic market. Panoz then came across the technology to protect certain drugs from being chemically destroyed in the body before they were absorbed. With the exception of Puskar, Panoz was unable to get support from the board of directors to explore this break-through in medicine delivery. In , Panoz resigned from Mylan and moved to Ireland where he founded Elan Pharmaceuticals and pursued his dream of developing the new drug delivery technology.
Puskar resigned from Mylan in over a matter of principle. He then spent a brief stint at ICN Pharmaceuticals in Cincinnati before heading to Ireland to work with his long-time friend and former business partner at Elan. Back home in Morgantown in , Mylan, which had gone public, was facing bankruptcy and the employees were going on strike. Puskar received a call from Mylan board member Roy McKnight who asked him to return to Morgantown to save the company from its dire situation.
Torn between returning home to save his namesake and staying in Ireland to work with his best friend, he went to Panoz for advice.
What do you think? June marked the last quarter that Mylan Pharmaceuticals ever failed to be profitable. But we both had a vested interest in Mylan, and I was happy to see that he had gone to make an impression and turn it around, which is exactly what he did. Puskar retired from Mylan in and remained the chairman until Today he travels between his homes in Sarasota, FL and Morgantown, WV, which will always be known as his special place.
Sign Up. See More Offers. Zip Code. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Credit Card. I Agree to the Subscription Terms of Use. This service will be automatically renewed and your credit card billed once it nears expiration. Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. Edit Close. Toggle navigation Menu. Don't have an account? Sign Up Today. Learn more about HD Media. Trending Now. Upcoming Events. Online Features. For years, Mylan had been increasing the cost of the EpiPen, a lifesaving device for those experiencing allergic reactions.
Public outrage and lawsuits followed. In , Mylan slashed another to jobs from Morgantown, mostly in departments like human resources, customer relations and customer complaints. A whistleblower took concerns about the plant to the U.
Food and Drug Administration in The FDA went on to allege that the plant violated multiple regulations: that it did not properly sanitize equipment, did not investigate discrepancies and failed to follow standards to ensure that drugs had the correct quality.
Mylan was forced to address these concerns, disrupting operations and costing hundreds of millions of dollars, according to documents filed with the U. Securities and Exchange Commission. Williams said she predicted the plant might have a decade left after her job was outsourced. It only took half of that time. Bloom, the county commissioner, said his first worries about a closure began when Puskar passed away, especially with the change in leadership that followed.
That, mixed with globalization, FDA issues, the EpiPen scandal and the merger, made him expect that the Morgantown plant would close. While he said he and other local government officials have made efforts to help the area through the layoff, Viatris has been holding the cards, making it hard for the community to get the winning hand.
They were there, they said, to show their support and give advice to those about to lose their jobs. Only a fraction of the workforce will remain to decommission the plant.
The man — who asked to be kept anonymous, citing a clause in his severance agreement restricting him from talking to the press — has to say goodbye to not only his friends, but also his daughters. But, overall, his future is uncertain.
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