Teva CEO Resolute Facing Bleak Numbers

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries’ share price was down over 11 percent in premarket trading on Wall Street on Wednesday after the company reported disappointing results for the past year and a bleak forecast for 2019, Globes said.

Teva revenue in 2018 was $18.854 billion, down 16 percent from 2017. This was attributed mostly to generic competition to its flagship drug Copaxone, a decline in U.S. revenue, and losses resulting from divestment of certain products.

Teva expects revenue to fall further to $17-17.4 billion in 2019 with non-GAAP EPS expected to be $2.20-2.50.

But president and CEO Kåre Schultz expressed satisfaction with the company’s performance and determination to get through the future:

“Two-thousand eighteen was the first year of our restructuring plan and we have met or exceeded all of our key financial targets. The full year yielded a cost base reduction of $2.2 billion, exceeding our 2018 target, and we are well on track to deliver the total $3.0 billion reduction in 2019 as compared to the 2017 spend base.

“AJOVY is performing very well since its September launch in the U.S. with growing demand for the first and only anti-CGRP treatment with both quarterly and monthly dosing for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults. We will focus our investments on growing AJOVY and continuing our success with AUSTEDO, with both franchises positioned to be important growth drivers for Teva.

“Looking ahead, we continue to expect that 2019 will be the trough for our business, a year in which we will experience similar challenges to those of 2018, including the continued erosion of Copaxone in the U.S. and Europe as well as the introduction of generics in the ProAir market. Throughout the year, we will continue to execute against our restructuring plan goals, including the optimization of our global portfolio and network, as we focus our efforts on generating cash to reduce the company’s debt.”