executive had been appointed, Egan would take over as non-executive
chairman, concentrating his energies on the company’s strategic direction,
and on improving relations with the City and the company’s shareholders.
Promising a more open style of management, Egan acknowledged that
Fisons’ relationships with institutional investors and City opinion-formers
had not always been well handled in the past, ‘But if you think there are
any further skeletons to come out of the cupboard, then you are wrong,’ he
said.^34 Egan at once set about rebuilding bridges with the investment com-
munity. His easy, open style contrasted reassuringly with Kerridge’s
guarded manner, lifting hopes that Fisons would recover quickly under
new leadership. To prove the point, it was announced that Peter Fothergill,
Director of the Pharmaceutical Division, would be giving the company’s
first R&D briefing to analysts for five years, later that week. It seemed that
glasnosthad finally reached Suffolk. The news that an FDA inspection of
the Holmes Chapel plant was due within the quarter also provided a
glimmer of hope that progress was being made regarding Imferon and
Opticrom’s restoration to the market.
The respite was short-lived. On 16 January, the full report of the FDA’s
latest visit to the Holmes Chapel plant became available under US freedom
of information legislation. The report revealed that the FDA had in fact
inspected the site back in 1990, when a catalogue of faults had been identi-
fied. Several months later a reinspection by the regulators had found that
some of its recommendations had still not been put into practice. A
spokesman for Fisons had dismissed the FDA’s findings as ‘not signifi-
cant’, adding that ‘All drug companies get these reports. The FDA is ever
increasing its quality standards.’^35 The following day, Peter Smith,
Associate Director of the FDA’s International Programmes and Technical
Support Branch – the department responsible for overseas inspections –
made plain his views on the matter. In a statement in the Guardiannews-
paper, Smith insisted that ‘The points in the inspection report were very
significant from the FDA standpoint ... We have invested more time and
money in Fisons than any other company ever and [they] keep failing
inspections.’ Smith went on to explain that an inspection usually takes two
to five days, but visits to Fisons could take up to three weeks. ‘And this is
all at the expense of the FDA. There are always problems there.’^36
Meanwhile the Financial Timeshad also been reading the FDA’s docu-
mentation. Fisons had maintained for the last 18 months that final
approval of Tilade was imminent, but the documentation revealed that its
production too had failed to meet regulations.^37 It had since passed a
second inspection. The share price yo-yoed as each setback fuelled specu-
lation that Fisons was about to become the target of a takeover. On 3 March
1992, Egan announced the final pre-tax profits for 1991. They were very
much in line with expectations. He expressed his regret that the results
were not better, but said that ‘we explained there would be a shortfall. I
282 Relationship Marketing