Teva's Levin departs
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA) said on Wednesday that Jeremy Levin departed as president and CEO after about a year and a half on the job. The news comes just two days after Levin denied rumors that he threatened to resign over disagreements between the company's board and management. On a conference call to discuss Levin's departure, Teva Chairman Phillip Frost said, "The differences were over a nuance rather than disagreement about the strategy itself and just to the point where the slight differences couldn't really be resolved. We thought it was better to part ways" (see BioCentury Extra, Oct. 28).
Eyal Desheh, Teva's EVP and CFO, will serve as interim president and CEO until the company's board names a permanent successor. On the conference call, Frost and Desheh both said Teva will continue with the company's cost-cutting program. Earlier this month, the company announced a 10% worldwide headcount reduction as part of a plan to accelerate cost reductions the company first announced in 2012 (see BioCentury, Dec. 10, 2012). ...