A rumour that Teva’s chief executive Jeremy Levin was stepping down due to a rift in the company’s board has been denied as a “baseless claim”.
Speculation arose after Israeli media reported there was a growing rift between Levin and chairman Phillip Frost over the company’s new business strategy.
According to the media report, aired on Channel 2 television, management at the firm wrote a letter to the board saying “although we are in the initial stages of implementing our strategy, the lack of unity among the board of directors and CEO hurts our ability to make the necessary changes”.
It added that the board should “reconsider its intervention in the daily course of business that we believe has become common in recent months and prevents management from being able to manage Teva effectively”.
Unnamed sources claimed in the report that Frost was attempting to push Levin out and that, in response, Levin was considering resignation.
However, The company has denied these reports. “I wholeheartedly deny the rumours hinting that I am weighing my resignation from managing Teva,” Levin wrote in a statement. “This is an unfounded report. I have the confidence and full faith in the professional team to implement – with maximum success – the strategic plan that we have formulated together.”
“These are baseless claims,” the company said. “The company’s management has worked to craft and execute its strategy with complete co-operation from the board of directors. All decisions made by the company’s management, led by its CEO, have been made with consultation and agreement of the board. The chairman and the CEO conduct regular work meetings and conversations, as is customary.”
The rumours were spurred after news earlier this month that the company was to axe 10% of its workforce – about 5000 jobs – in a bid to cut costs in the lead up to when the firm’s best-selling multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone’s patent expires next year. Allegedly there were differences of opinion among board members on how to proceed with the layoff plan.
Levin joined Teva in May 2012 with the promise to restructure the company for a new phase of success.
