O.C. BUSINESS PLUS : Panic to Sell 103,542 ICN Shares

Milan Panic, the controversial chairman and chief executive of ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., plans to sell more than 100,000 shares of stock in the Costa Mesa drug company, according to a regulatory report.

Panic, once the prime minister of Yugoslavia, acquired the 103,542 common shares after exercising a stock option, according to a document filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The shares would be worth about $2.27 million at the stock’s Wednesday closing price of $21.88 a share. Panic currently holds about 2.9 million shares, or a 3.6% stake, in the company.

Panic’s filing was made about two weeks after the SEC accused the chief executive, the company and two other former and current officials of making fraudulent and misleading public statements about the status of a drug ICN developed to treat the liver disease hepatitis C.

The SEC is seeking to bar Panic from serving as an officer or director of any publicly traded company.

ICN has denied any wrongdoing.