Banned wholesaler Europharma DK hires repackager Abacus Medicine and replaces CEO

Banned wholesaler Europharma DK has appointed a new CEO and hired Abacus Medicine to repackage and distribute drugs on its behalf.

The Danish Medicines Agency (DKMA) cleared Europharma to resume the sale and distribution of drugs packaged by Abacus last week. The agency stressed that products repackaged by Europharma DK cannot be sold.

A spokesman for the Danish Medicine Agency’s division of Medicines Control and Inspection told us “Europharma DK and Abacus Medicine met with the Danish Medicines Agency to present their plan before execution."

He added that: “The products are being repackaged by Abacus Medicine, a company with a valid manufacturing authorization for parallel import and distribution of medicines and manufactured in compliance with Good Manufacturing Practice.

Abacus Medicines is fully responsible for the quality of the medicine they repackage and release on to the marked. The agreement between the two companies, as presented to the Danish Medicines Agency, is in accordance with national rules and EU pharmaceutical legislation.”

New CEO

DKMA suspended Europharma’s license to distribute medicines last month after inspectors who visited the firm’s repackaging facility in Esbjerg in December found evidence the expiry dates of some drugs had been falsified.

In addition to the suspension, the agency also said Europharma would need to replace CEO Torben Hvingelby Pedersen in order to regain its trust.

The DKMA spokesman told us “Europharma DK has appointed a new CEO, January 31.”

According to the Danish business register Virk, Europharma has appointed Jimmi Javed Christensen Malik as CEO.