Teva adds 790 Croatians to layoff toll

Generics may hold diversification promise for Big Pharma, but that doesn't mean generics companies are immune to the industry-wide cost-cutting imperative. Witness Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the world's biggest maker of copycat meds. Yesterday we reported that Teva would shutter a Florida plant, laying off 300 in the process. Teva acquired the plant in Doral when it bought Ivax in 2006. 

And now there's more: The company also will cut 790 workers in Croatia. Those employees moved to Teva when the Israeli company bought Barr Pharmaceuticals, and along with it the Croatian unit Pliva, two months ago. Already Teva is streamlining Pliva in an attempt to boost its profitability in line with the company average. The layoffs amount to more than one-quarter of the unit's workers.

But Teva doesn't plan to stop at cost-cutting; it's plotting to take up slack manufacturing capacity at Pliva to make APIs and tablet drugs. The company aims to boost production there by 30 percent.

- read the story from Haaretz

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