Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ($TEVA) CEO Jeremy Levin, like many newly minted executives, wants to set up his own crew to accomplish his own strategies. So, after about 5 months on the job, he's appointing a new first mate on the generics side.
William Marth, who's been running Teva Americas Generics, is stepping down immediately. Allan Oberman, who's been SVP for Teva's North American generics business, will step up to president and CEO of the entire Americas business. Oberman will report directly to Levin.
Meanwhile, Levin has created a new position overseeing the company's work in women's health. And he's poached Jill DeSimone from Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY), his former employer, to take on the job. DeSimone will be Teva's first SVP and general manager of Teva Global Women's Health.
"These changes are part of our ongoing process to build a premier leadership team and reshape Teva," Levin said in a statement, praising Oberman for his "extensive experience in global generics" and DeSimone's "great track record and many years of experience in building franchises in specialty medicine."
Levin faces the task of pushing Teva toward its future as a hybrid generics-and-branded drugmaker. It's known for its copycat drugs--it is the biggest generics company in the world--but is building up its branded business to supplement the low-margin generics. It's working on a successor to its branded multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone, which is nearing the end of its patent life, and integrating its recent purchase of Cephalon, the U.S.-based drugmaker with a portfolio of CNS drugs, including wakefulness aids Provigil and Nuvigil, and a pipeline of potential asthma and cancer drugs.
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