Mylan Laboratories: from small vitamin company to generic giant
A 1961: Army buddies Milan “Mike” Puskar, a chemical engineer, and Don Panoz co- found the small vitamin company Milan Pharmaceuticals in West Virginia.
B 1972: Mr. Puskar leaves the company following a dispute with its board, only to return as president in 1976.
C 1973: Company name is changed to Mylan Laboratories.
D 1993: Mr. Puskar is named chairman and CEO following the death of CEO Roy McKnight.
E 2002: Mylan taps 41- year- old Robert J. Coury as its CEO while Mr. Puskar continues as board chairman. Mr. Coury had been a consultant for the drugmaker since 1995.
F 2004: Mylan officials announce plans to buy specialty drugmaker King Pharmaceuticals in Tennessee, but financier and Mylan investor Carl Icahn successfully scuttles the deal.
G 2007: Mylan acquires Merck KGaA’s generic medication unit for $ 6.6 billion in a deal that triples Mylan’s size and makes it one of the world’s largest generic drug companies. The agreement brings Merck’s epinephrine auto- injector EpiPen into Mylan’s portfolio.
H 2007- 08: The Post- Gazette reports West Virginia University had awarded Mylan executive Heather Bresch an MBA degree even though records showed she’d only completed about half of the required 48 credits.
I 2009: Mr. Puskar, 74, announces he is leaving the company after 48 years. As part of his retirement package, he will have free access to Mylan’s corporate aircraft for the rest of his life.
J 2011: Mylan co- founder Mr. Puskar dies of cancer at age 77. He had been a longtime supporter of West Virginia University, donating $ 20 million to the university in 2003. The university’s football stadium now carries his name.
K 2012: Mr. Coury steps away from day- to- day operations, and company president Ms. Bresch is named CEO.
L 2014: Mylan says it will acquire Abbott Laboratories’ non- U. S. generic business in a $ 5.3 billion all- stock transaction that allows Mylan to reincorporate in the Netherlands, a move that lowers its corporate tax bill.
M 2015: Mylan rejects Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ unsolicited takeover proposal valued at about $ 43 billion. Later that year, shareholders for Ireland- based Perrigo Co. spurn Mylan’s $ 26 billion hostile takeover bid.
N 2016: Mylan draws the attention of Congress for the dramatic price increase of its life- saving EpiPens, with the unit price going from less than $ 60 when Mylan acquired it in 2007 to about $ 600 for a pair of injectors. Facing withering criticism, the company says it will soon offer a generic version of the EpiPen that will cost about half the price.
O Mylan is one of six drugmakers sued by attorneys general in 20 states, including Pennsylvania, for allegedly conspiring to fix prices on generic acne and oral diabetes medications.
P In December, Mylan announces it will restructure following a $ 120 million thirdquarter loss after taking a charge due to a proposed $ 465 million settlement with the U. S. Justice Department for overcharging Medicaid for the EpiPen.
Q 2017: A filing with U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows Chairman Coury’s compensation for 2016 was $ 97.6 million. CEO Ms. Bresch was paid $ 13.8 million, down from $ 18.9 million a year earlier.
R 2019: In May, Mylan stock falls to its lowest point since 2012 following a first- quarter loss of $ 25 million, compared with a profit of $ 87 million for the same quarter in 2018.
S July 29, 2019: Pfizer Inc. and Mylan announce plans to combine their holdings to form a new unnamed generic drug company based in the U. S. Under the agreement, CEO Ms. Bresch will leave the company.