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Exclusive Life Science Feature Teva Explores the Common Ground of Follow-On and Innovative Pharma An instructive view of Israel's global powerhouse in traditional pharma, generics, and "special generics" at a critical time for the company and its leader By Wayne Koberstein, Executive Editor N o other company could reproduce the unique history and market range of this one; the circumstances of Teva's birth and growth have been as entirely novel as its location at the commercial crossroads of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Current headlines suggest the scope of its story — everything from closed plants and massive layoffs to executive compensation "secrets" and a key patent expiration — yet the reports shed little light on the company's inner workings and new management thinking. Teva was relatively new on the scene in North America at the turn of the millennium, when I had already been covering the industry for 15 years. To many, it was the company that appeared in the top 20 pharma lists seemingly overnight. It speaks volumes that Teva, which first grew large selling and manufacturing drugs other companies had introduced, will now be judged on how well it survives a key-product patent expiration. Fortunately, the company has since pioneered new ground that encompasses both sides of the old follow-on and innovator dichotomy. The same wave of patent expirations that threatens Teva, as it does most Big Pharmas, brings many new opportunities to this uniquely diverse company. Teva has also appointed new president and CEO Jeremy Levin, a physician and innovative pharma veteran. Levin explains the company's future lies not in producing more traditional, "Paragraph IV" generics, but "high-value generics" and innovative treatments in CNS, respiratory, and other areas. Teva is expanding its OTC products in a joint venture with P&G;, and it is applying the Teva-coined, but now more widely adopted concept of "new therapeutic entities" (NTEs) — novel formulations or combinations of existing drugs designed to improve compliance and, hence, patient health. Most of the press coverage on Teva has focused on whether it will find new drugs to replace older products in its branded portfolio. But here we look more closely at the company's strategy for dealing with a much greater and comprehensive set of changes in business and healthcare. GROWING BY LEAPS Levin spoke with me by phone from the company's headquarters in Petah Tikva, modern Israel's first new town, after responding to my July 2013 article, "GDUFA Sheds Light on Industry's Common Ground." In his initial note, he said, "I was particularly struck by the convergence that you described and, indeed, the thinking which articulates some (but not all) of the conceptual underpinning for Teva's transformation. At the end of the day, there is one clear imperative — the production and provision of superbly high-quality and effective medicines." Teva's "transformation" into an originator company is actually the latest in a long history of seismic changes the company has undergone since its October 2013 LifeScienceLeader.com 25