Teva on the hunt for 'major' acquisition

Just a year after swallowing the $7.4 billion Barr Laboratories buy, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is ready to make another deal. CEO Schlomo Yanai told Bloomberg that he's looking for acquisitions--and not just generics firms. The No. 1 maker of copycat meds worldwide, Teva wants to diversify into branded meds, plus boost its generics market share, Yanai said.

"If we find a target that is in line with our strategy in the specialty area, in the biotechnology area, we definitely are going to consider it," Yanai told the news service. "We are not limiting ourselves to buying only generic companies."

The CEO wouldn't identify potential targets by name, but observers pointed to King Pharmaceuticals and Endo Pharmaceutical Holdings as possibilities. Others? BioMarin and Shire. None of these companies commented for Bloomberg on the speculation. But stay tuned; Teva has the money and motive to do a "major" deal, Yanai said, "at the level of Barr and above."

- read the Bloomberg story [1]

ALSO: The growing strength of Israel's shekel is increasing Teva's production costs, leading the company to consider manufacturing elsewhere, perhaps in the U.S. Report [2]

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