The president of Mississauga drug and food testing lab Chemi Pharmaceutical is frustrated with the slow progress of Health Canada’s investigation into falsified tests.
“I was thinking the process was going to move much faster,” president Mariana Stavrikov told YourMississaugaBiz.com. “But it is not the way I was planning.”
She said Chemi Pharmaceutical is still under investigation by Health Canada, more than six weeks after the company’s licence was first suspended.
In early December, Stavrikov said she was planning to hire a quality assurance manager, more auditions and more reviewers as well as a well-known industry consultant from Quality & Compliance Services Inc.
However, when asked today if a visit to the Bonhill Rd facility could be arranged in the near future, Stavrikov said by the end of the month the company would not have “any significant changes.”
Chemi lost its license on December 3 “after uncovering falsified testing results during the course of an inspection.” While the company had been licensed by Health Canada since 2003, a spokesperson said an investigation in November revealed an unprecedented level of falsification.
As a result, the federal department temporarily halted the sales of dozens of chemical ingredients and other drugs the company had tested, such as benzyl alcohol, urea and aspirin. However, as of Jan. 7 all the affected products were cleared to resume sales.
Still, Chemi’s business has suffered as a result of the investigation. Two clients, Bimeda-MTC Animal Health and Mississauga drug firm Septa Pharamaceutical Inc., have both severed their business relationships with Chemi.
Karen K. Ho 