It seems that, in the past few days, the question over the appointment of a new CEO for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) has switched from "who" to "when". Conventional wisdom in the market holds that Teva will announce the appointment of Erez Vigodman for the job, as first reported by "Globes", and that it will happen very soon, probably by the end of next week. Sources inform ''Globes'' that Teva's board of directors will meet within a few days to approve his appointment to the job.
Teva said in response, "Teva does not respond to market rumors."
For the past several years Vigodman, 54, has served as the CEO of agrochemicals maker Makhteshim Agan Industries Ltd., now controlled by China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina). Before that, he was the CEO of food company Strauss Group Ltd. (TASE:STRS). In contrast to Teva's previous CEO, Dr. Jeremy Levin, Vigodman does not have many years of experience in the pharmaceuticals industry, but he knows Teva well because he has been a director since 2009.
Teva hired global headhunting firm Egon Zehnder for the search, and it has reviewed a large number of candidates for the job in the past few weeks.
The relevant experience that Vigodman brings is in turning around companies, such as the turnaround he led at Makhteshim in the past few years. Teva is on the brink of losing a substantial part of its profits because of the expiry of its US patents for its flagship product, Copaxone, in May 2014. Copaxone contributes an estimated 50-70% of Teva's profits.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 7, 2014
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