Generic, specialty units to be combined into one global group

JERUSALEM, Israel — Just over two months after naming a new chief executive officer, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the world’s largest maker of generic drugs, is reorganizing its business and leadership structure.

Teva said Monday that it’s integrating its drug businesses into one commercial organization, and there will no longer be two separate global groups for generics and specialty medicines. The organization will operate in three regions — North America, Europe and Growth Markets — and each regional unit will manage the entire portfolio, including generics, specialty and over-the-counter medications, with full profit/loss accountability.

Under the Teva reorganization, some of the former global units will be integrated into the new structure, while others will be eliminated, the company said.

The former Generic R&D and Specialty R&D organizations will be melded into one global group with overall responsibility for research and development, covering generics, specialty and biologics. Teva said the move will maximize return on investment through better focus and efficiency.

Also with the Teva reorganization, a new Marketing & Portfolio function will supervise the interface between regions, R&D and operations throughout all product life-cycle stages and optimization of generic and specialty portfolios across the therapeutic areas.

Kåre Schultz, Teva’s chief executive officer

“Teva is taking decisive and immediate action to address external pressures and internal inefficiencies,” Kåre Schultz, who was appointed president and CEO of Teva in September, said in a statement. “Our new company structure will enable stronger alignment and integration between R&D, operations and the commercial regions, allowing us to become a more agile, lean and profitable company.”

Teva noted that the new structure will better align and integrate its global operations, commercial regions, R&D and portfolio function, boosting productivity and simplifying the organization. In addition, a single, leaner supporting infrastructure — including finance, legal, human resources, and global brand and communications — will support the commercial organization, Teva said.

With the changes, three senior Teva executives will retire from the company effective Dec. 31: Michael Hayden, president of Global R&D and chief scientific officer; Rob Koremans, president and CEO of Global Specialty Medicines; and Dipankar Bhattacharjee, president and CEO of the Global Generic Medicines Group.

“We will focus on driving sustainable value creation. The new management team will position Teva for turnaround in the short to medium term,” Schultz stated. “We are already working on a detailed restructuring plan for Teva and will share it in mid-December. It remains our absolute priority to stabilize the company’s operating profit and cash flow in order to improve our financial situation, while being focused on short-term revenue and cash generation, and at the same time, ensure we deliver on our commitment to supply high-quality medicines to patients around the world.”

Teva also announced a spate of executive appointments. The company named Michael McClellan, previously interim CFO and senior vice preisdent and CFO of CFO Global Specialty Medicines, as executive vice president and chief financial officer; Hafrun Fridriksdottir, formerly president of Global Generics R&D, as executive vice president of Global R&D; and Brendan O’Grady, previously chief commercial officer of Global Specialty Medicine, as executive vice president of North America Commercial.

Richard Daniell, formerly president and CEO of Teva Generics Europe, has been appointed as executive vice president of European Commercial, while Gianfranco Nazzi, previously served as president and CEO of growth markets at the Global Generic Medicines group, has been named executive vice president of Growth Markets Commercial. And Sven Dethlefs has taken the role of executive vice president of Global Marketing & Portfolio after having served as global head of Respiratory Medicines and as chief operating officer of Teva global operations.

All appointments are effective immediately, and the retiring executives will stay on to support the transition until the end of the year, according to Teva.

“I would like to thank Dr. Michael Hayden, Dr. Rob Koremans and Dipankar Bhattacharjee for their profound contributions to Teva over the past decade and for their tireless dedication to the many patients we serve,” Schultz added.

Continuing in their current positions in Teva’s executive management team are Carlo de Notaristefani, executive vice president of global operations; Iris Beck-Codner, executive vice president of Global Brand & Communications; Mark Sabag, executive vice president of global human resources; and David Stark, executive vice president and chief legal officer.