Teva Says Jeremy Levin Named to Succeed Shlomo Yanai as CEO

January 02, 2012, 2:23 AM EST By Mike Millard and Aya Takada

(Adds Levin’s background in the second paragraph.)

Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. said Jeremy Levin, a former executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb, will succeed Shlomo Yanai as the president and chief executive officer of the world’s largest generic-drug maker.

Levin, a Cambridge University-educated physician who worked at Bristol-Myers as senior vice president for strategy, will take the helm at Teva in May, according to a statement by the Petach Tikva, Israel-based company. Yanai will retire from the company, it said.

The change comes after Teva’s shares plunged last year the most since 2006 amid mounting competition and a ruling by the Obama administration against its emergency contraceptive pill. Teva’s American depository receipts lost 23 percent in 2011.

Copaxone, an injected multiple sclerosis treatment that accounted for 23 percent of Teva’s $4.21 billion revenue in the second quarter, is facing competition from a new drug by Novartis AG.

The Obama administration last month overruled an approval for unrestricted over-the-counter access to Teva’s emergency contraceptive pill, which reduces pregnancy risk if taken within three days of sex. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius ordered the Food and Drug Administration to reject Teva’s application, citing potential sales to girls younger than age 17.

Before joining Bristol-Myers Squibb, Levin was Global Head of Business Development and Strategic Alliances at Novartis from 2003 to 2007. The 58-year-old, who has worked as a practicing physician, has a medical degree from Cambridge University and a doctorate from Oxford University in molecular biology, according to the statement.

--Editor: Jason Clenfield.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mike Millard at mmillard2@bloomberg.net Aya Takada in Tokyo at atakada2@bloomberg.net

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