Lalalalla

PAN PHARMACEUTICALS

Theory: CONTROL Relevant concepts: 1. Steps in the Control Process 2. Types of controls (by timing) – Feedforward, concurrent, feedback 3. Quality Control

Jim Selim, founded Pan Pharmaceuticals in Australia in 1974. He took the company from its modest beginnings (a pharmacy and a line in Vitamin C tablets) to being the largest supplier of Nutritional Supplements to the Australian market and a major player in the export market of such supplements. Pan produced 4000 different lines consisting of powder products, SoftGel capsules, effervescent tablets and liquid medicines for reputable and well known companies supplying goods for distribution under the trademarks, brand names and registered labels of its customers and other companies. The company exported around 40% of its product overseas to Asia, New Zealand, Europe, United States, the Middle East and Africa and had great plans for the future. The Annual Report and Accounts issued in 2002 portrayed the company as a great Australian success. Pan’s web site claimed that company’s manufacturing facility in Sydney fully complied with the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Code of Good Manufacturing Practice for Therapeutic Products and furthermore, that its production facilities were cutting edge. (TGA is Australia's pharmaceutical watchdog, responsible for the safety of drugs listed on the national register of therapeutic goods. The TGA code is a standard of manufacturing excellence recognised around the world for its stringent adherence to the World Health Organization maintained standard.) In November 2003 however Pan Pharmaceutical become embroiled in the recall of almost 1700 medicinal products – the greatest recall in the Australian history and had its license suspended. The massive financial losses caused by the recall forces Pan Pharmaceuticals into voluntary liquidation. So how could it all go so wrong? The crisis which led to the demise of Pan Pharmaceuticals started...