Teva sees 25% of the EpiPen auto-injectors market by the end of 2019



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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. chief executive, Kare Schultz, said Tuesday that he hoped the company's generic version, EpiPen, an auto-injector for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions, would capture about 25% of the US market by the end of 2019.

In August, the FDA cleared the Israeli drug maker to market a generic version of its competitor Mylan's epiPen. Since then, Teva has sold his product to adults in the United States and plans to start selling his junior version for kids here three to four months, Schultz said.

He added that the shortages of auto-injectors noted by the American pharmacists, reported by Reuters in January, are due to problems of supply of Mylan and not product of Teva. Mylan's EpiPen dominates the market, Reuters said, but has been out of stock since May, leaving patients looking for alternatives.

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"We have enough supplies," Schultz said at the press conference, adding that anyone needing the injector can contact the company's US distributor. "We do not have enough supplies to fill all the holes," he said. "But we will fill the supply chain more and more."

Kare Schultz, CEO of Teva, at a press conference in Tel Aviv; February 19, 2019 (Shoshanna Solomon / Times of Israel)

Teva was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of Schultz in September 2017, entrusting him with the strategy of the Israeli company, divesting badets, reducing debt and restoring investor confidence after a series mistakes that caused the debt to swell.

At his first press conference in Israel since he had taken the reins of the drug maker based in Petah Tikva in November 2017, Schultz had outlined the company's strategy for the future. After disappointing badysts with its forecasts for 2019 La Coxpaxone, its flagship drug against multiple sclerosis, continues to decline. Teva's respiratory drug, ProAir, is also expected to be hit by competition this year, the company said.

"We will continue to be the world's leading generics," said Schlutz, detailing the plans. "It is, of course, the foundation of our business."

But the company "will also seek to become a leader" in biopharmaceutical products – two innovative biopharmaceutical products, such as the recently launched Ajovy injection of Teva, for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults , and in biosimilar products, that she hopes to launch with her upcoming American partners. years, says Schultz.

Copaxone, the only treatment for interferon-free multiple sclerosis, was developed by Teva Pharmaceuticals in the mid-1990s. (Weizmann Scientific Institute / JTA)

Biopharmaceuticals are drugs based on biological sources such as sugars, proteins and nucleic acids. Biosimilars are generic versions of biopharmaceutical drugs.

Teva is embarking on these fields because it is "the region that has experienced the strongest growth in the last 10 years," he said.

Biological drugs are growing more than traditional medicines, he said, "and they will continue to grow." In the next 20 years, innovative biopharmaceutical and biosimilar products "will be the world's fastest growing segment of the pharmaceutical industry".

"It's just a combination of our know-how, our facilities and our staff, and it's the biggest opportunity in the next 10 to 20 years," said Schultz.

For 2019, Teva expected early this month (PDF) to continue eroding its Copaxone brand drug prices globally due to generic drug competition and "erosion". of its ProAir product.

He predicted that sales of his Ajovy migraine drug in the United States would reach $ 150 million in 2019, up from $ 3 million in 2018, and sales of his drug Austedo for Huntington's disease and tardive dyskinesia would rise to $ 350 million. million in 2019, compared to $ 204 million in 2019. 2018.

The company expects adjusted earnings per share of $ 2.20 to $ 2.50 and a turnover of $ 17.0 billion to $ 17.4 billion, which is less than badysts estimate. 39, earnings per share of $ 2.81 on a $ 17.9 billion business, Reuters said.

During a teleconference at the time of the results, Mr. Schultz said that the company had laid off more than 10,000 workers since the start of the restructuring plan established at the end of 2017 and had closed seven manufacturing plants in 2018. He announced the closure of 11 other factories. or sold in 2019.

On Teva's outlook for 2019, Schultz told the Tel Aviv press conference that badysts were hoping for higher numbers. This may be due to Teva's "positive performance in 2018," with the drug maker meeting or exceeding its financial targets for the year, he said.

In a laboratory of the Teva Medical Factory in Har Hotzvim, Jerusalem, March 15, 2010. (Nati Shohat / Flash90)

"The fact is that we are still in a difficult situation with declining revenues," he said. "The fact that we manage it well does not mean we have no problem. People have forgotten this a bit, so we had to remind them that, unfortunately, incomes are still declining and that they will go down in 2019. By 2020, we hope to stabilize it "with a slight increase, then in 2021 with a larger increase., He said.

Schultz added that he was counting on Teva's two new drugs, Austedo and Ajovy, to eventually offset the decline in Copaxone's revenues.

He said the company's debt was reduced to $ 27 billion and the company's goal was to further reduce that amount. "If we do not reduce debt, we will never regain our flexibility and freedom from a strategic point of view. So in the next three to five years, all the money will go to debt reduction. "

In response to a question, Schultz stated that the company was not planning to move its head office abroad but to new leased premises in Tel Aviv, where all divisions would work together rather than in separate buildings. In response to a question, he stated that the company was not for sale.

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