LEGACY LEADERSHIP: In 1959, Milan Panic famously started ICN Pharmaceuticals (short for International Chemical and Nuclear) out of his Los Angeles garage with just $200. Panic’s 42-year tenure was marked by a string of controversies, including regulatory scrutiny and proxy battles, leading up to his resignation in 2002.
OC SIGNIFICANCE: Responsible for creating the largest standalone publicly traded biotech company in Orange County at the time with the spinoff of its Ribapharm Inc. subsidiary. Grew from a garage startup to multinational drugmaker with operations spanning more than 60 countries. Gained prominence for its development of ribavirin, an antiviral drug used in the treatment of hepatitis C, a chronic liver disease.
DEFINING MOMENT: Received FDA approval for ribavirin in 1985 for treating infants with severe respiratory syncytial virus. Despite initial rejection in 1994 over concerns of ribavirin’s effectiveness as a standalone treatment, ICN won approval in 1998 for ribavirin for the drug’s use in combination therapy for hepatitis C. In 1994, the company underwent a restructuring, merging with three affiliates to create one global entity, rebranding as Valeant Pharmaceuticals in 2003. After acquiring Bausch & Lomb for $8.7B in 2013, it adopted the name Bausch Health Companies in 2018.
BY THE NUMBERS: Company grew to more than $1B in annual revenue by the time Panic resigned as CEO. Was listed as the 49th largest pharmaceutical company in the world at the time. Following approval, royalties for ribavirin more than quadrupled from $37M in 1998 to $155M in 2000.
QUOTABLE: “It was not easy to bring an antiviral drug to market because no one believed in it. The regulators constantly denied approval and constantly discouraged our research, once even telling me to stop our studies entirely. I refused to stop.” —Milan Panic
FUN FACT: Founder Milan Panic took a formal leave of absence in 1992 for a year-long stint as the prime minister of Yugoslavia during the early Yugoslav Wars. He was later ousted following a parliamentary no-confidence vote led by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.
