Chaim Hurvitz, the son of the late former Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) chairman and CEO Eli Hurvitz has told "Globes" that he supported the candidacy of Prof. Yitzhak Peterburg as the company's new chairman. Amir Elstein and Dan proper also stood for the position. Peterburg was elected and he will replace outgoing chairman Dr. Phillip Frost on January 1. Hurvitz stood down recently from the Teva board of directors but he remains involved in company activities.
Hurvitz said, "All the candidates had managed large organizations but Yitzhak Peterburg was especially relevant to the position as Teva chairman because he has been CEO of Clalit Health Services, an organization that combines health insurances and health services in hospitals and in the community. Today the whole world is moving away from a model of separating insurance companies, hospitals and community work to a merged model like Clalit, and Yitzhak already has 10 years of experience in this. He can think from the point of view of our customers."
Hurvitz added, "Because Israel has a relatively concentrated health system and there are few health funds and Clalit is the largest, this makes it one of the largest of its kind in the world."
"In my eyes the most important thing that Peterburg did at Clalit was to bring it into the 21st century in terms of computerization, and digital services, which were the most advanced of its kind for the time."
The choice of a health rather than pharmaceutical professional points to the direction that Teva is moving to - less stress on innovation and developing the "next Copaxone" in favor of a Teva that is first and foremost an industrial company in generic and innovative treatments, formulations and their application, and less an innovative pharmaceutical company.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 1, 2014
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