Teva's Recent Moves Suggest Restructuring Will Focus on Hypertension, Respiratory & CNS Markets
April 6, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has made several recent key announcements that underline the direction of the company’s restructuring.
On March 30, 2015, the company announced that it was acquiring La Jolla, Calif.-based Auspex Pharmaceuticals for approximately $3.2 billion in an all-cash deal. This gives Teva a stronger position in the CNS market.
“This acquisition of Auspex is a significant step in strengthening Teva’s leadership position in CNS and advances us into underserved movement disorder markets,” said Erez Vigodman, president and chief executive officer of Teva in a statement. “We look forward to accelerating the development and commercialization of the Auspex portfolio based on our infrastructure, capabilities and strong commercial and R&D position in CNS.”
A day later the company announced the launch of the generic equivalent to Exforge (amlodipine and valsartan) in the U.S. Exforge Tablets are used for the treatment of high blood pressure. On April 1, 2015, Teva announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ProAir RespiClick (albuterol sulfate) for the treatment or prevention of bronchospasm in patients 12 years of age or older with reversible obstructive airway disease.
These deals demonstrate how Teva is restructuring its company to focus on respiratory disorders and central nervous system disorders. While doing so, it is also cutting its focus on medical services. Notably it is looking to sell off its community-based dialysis clinics called Nephromor to Fresenius Medical Care Ag & Co. (ADR). Nephromor is the largest private dialysis provider in Israel, accounting for about 51 percent of private dialysis in the country. Teva owns about half of Nephromor through Teva Medical, a subsidiary.
Although Teva has a big presence in the generics market, the recent Auspex deal really opens up the CNS market. Auspex has drug candidates in its pipeline for hyperkinetic movement disorders like chorea associated with Huntington’s disease, tardive dyskinesia and Tourette syndrome.
The company also filed last week with the FDA against several planned generic versions of Teva’s Copaxone, a treatment for multiple sclerosis. Copaxone is Teva’s biggest drug, reporting $4.2 billion in sales in 2014.
For the most part the company’s stock has been on a steady increase with a major jump fairly recently. It was trading at $57.61 on March 11, 2015, but rices closed on April 2 at $63.80, where it is currently.
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