Teva Announces Agreement with Competition Bureau of Canada Regarding Proposed Merger with Ratiopharm

JERUSALEM--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA) today announced that the Competition Bureau in Canada has reached an agreement with Teva Canada Limited and the Merckle Group, carrying on business as ratiopharm, stating that they will not challenge the transaction and the Companies are free to close without competition-related risk. Teva is pleased with the outcome which will allow us to fully realize the expected benefits of this merger in Canada.

About Teva

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NASDAQ:TEVA) is a leading global pharmaceutical company, committed to increasing access to high-quality healthcare by developing, producing and marketing affordable generic drugs as well as innovative and specialty pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Headquartered in Israel, Teva is the world's largest generic drug maker, with a global product portfolio of more than 1,250 molecules and a direct presence in over 60 countries. Teva's branded businesses focus on neurological, respiratory and women's health therapeutic areas as well as biologics. Teva's leading innovative product, Copaxone®, is the number one prescribed treatment for multiple sclerosis. Teva employs more than 35,000 people around the world and reached $13.9 billion in net sales in 2009.

Teva's Safe Harbor Statement under the U. S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

This release contains forward-looking statements, which express the current beliefs and expectations of management. Such statements involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause our future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include risks relating to: our ability to successfully develop and commercialize additional pharmaceutical products, the introduction of competing generic equivalents, the extent to which we may obtain U.S. market exclusivity for certain of our new generic products and regulatory changes that may prevent us from utilizing exclusivity periods, potential liability for sales of generic products prior to a final resolution of outstanding patent litigation, including that relating to the generic versions of Neurontin®, Lotrel®, Protonix®, and Yaz® current economic conditions, the extent to which any manufacturing or quality control problems damage our reputation for high quality production, the effects of competition on our innovative products, especially Copaxone® sales, dependence on the effectiveness of our patents and other protections for innovative products, especially Copaxone®, the impact of consolidation of our distributors and customers, the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and pending legislation that could affect the pharmaceutical industry, our ability to achieve expected results though our innovative R&D efforts, the difficulty of predicting U.S. Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency and other regulatory authority approvals, the uncertainty surrounding the legislative and regulatory pathway for the registration and approval of biotechnology-based products, the regulatory environment and changes in the health policies and structures of various countries, any failures to comply with the complex Medicare and Medicaid reporting and payment obligations, the effects of reforms in healthcare regulation, supply interruptions or delays that could result from the complex manufacturing of our products and our global supply chain, interruptions in our supply chain or problems with our information technology systems that adversely affect our complex manufacturing processes, potential tax liabilities that may arise should our agreements (including intercompany arrangements), be challenged successfully by tax authorities, our ability to successfully identify, consummate and integrate acquisitions and other business combinations (including our pending acquisition of ratiopharm), the potential exposure to product liability claims to the extent not covered by insurance, our exposure to fluctuations in currency, exchange and interest rates, as well as to credit risk, significant operations worldwide that may be adversely affected by terrorism, political or economical instability or major hostilities, our ability to enter into patent litigation settlements and the increased government scrutiny of our agreements with brand companies in both the U.S. and Europe, the termination or expiration of governmental programs and tax benefits, impairment of intangible assets and goodwill, any failure to retain key personnel or to attract additional executive and managerial talent, environmental risks, and other factors that are discussed in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2009, in this report and in our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).



CONTACT:

Investor Relations:
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
Elana Holzman, 972 (3) 926-7554
or
Teva North America
Kevin Mannix, (215) 591-8912
or
Media:
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
Yossi Koren, 972 (3) 926-7590
or
Teva North America
Denise Bradley, (215) 591-8974

KEYWORDS:   Europe  North America  Canada  Germany  Middle East  Israel

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Health  Pharmaceutical

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