Teva CEO Steps Down

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries reported on Oct. 30, 2013 that Jeremy Levin, president and CEO, will step down immediately. Eyal Desheh, Teva's executive vice-pesident and chief financial officer, will fill the role of president and CEO on an interim basis. The company's board of directors has formed a committee that will begin to search for a permanent successor.

The change in leadership at Teva follows a recently announced restructuring program. In October 2013, Teva announced plants to accelerate its restructuring program, which was introduced in December 2012 and included actions to divest noncore assets, increase organization effectiveness, improve manufacturing efficiency, and reduce excess capacity. Teva plans to reduce its global workforce by approximately 10% (approximately 5000 employees) and will complete the majority of the reduction by the end of 2014.

Teva recently reported its third-quarter results. Revenues for the three months ended September 30, 2013 were $5.1 billion, an increase of 2% compared to the third quarter of 2012. In local currency terms, revenues also went up 2%. The increase was primarily attributable to higher sales of generic medicines in the United States, higher revenues from its global specialty and over-the-counter medicines. This increase was partially offset by a decrease in global API sales to third parties.

See related story, "Teva Announces Further Restructuring."

Source: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Third-Quarter Results); Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (Executive Change)