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Teva Pharm to halt R&D in cancer and women’s health to cut costs

October 7, 2014
Life sciences

 

(Reuters) – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said it will stop research and development in areas such as oncology and women’s health to cut costs, though it will maintain a commercial presence in these areas.

 
The world’s biggest generic drugmaker will discontinue or divest from 14 projects in its pipeline, the Israeli company said on Monday. These projects amount to more than $150 million in R&D costs in 2015 and more than $200 million for each of 2016 and 2017.
 
These cost savings will be directed, in part, to increasing resources in Teva’s core therapeutic areas – central nervous system (CNS) and respiratory – while another part will support the company’s drive to improve efficiency.
 
The higher investment in core areas will raise R&D productivity without increasing the overall R&D budget, Teva said.
 
In women’s health and oncology, where Teva has a significant commercial presence, it said it will focus on market-ready or close-to-market products to maximize profitability. Teva said it will also continue to evaluate opportunities for commercially oriented activities and collaborations.
 
Teva’s chief executive, Erez Vigodman, said the company’s CNS and respiratory products in late-stage development are expected to generate great value.
 
“Out of the 30-plus product launches we anticipate by 2019, with a total of over $4 billion in new revenue on a risk-adjusted basis, over 20 products will be launched in these two core therapeutic areas,” he said.
 
(Reporting by Tova Cohen, editing by Louise Heavens)
 
 

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