Teva refutes Landa's "inexperienced board" charges

Erez Vigodman, Benny Landa Photos: Eyal Yizhar
Erez Vigodman, Benny Landa Photos: Eyal Yizhar

Teva insists that the board of directors has expertise in pharma, finance, and operations.

"The Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) board of directors is composed of active and involved directors with proven business records and broad and diverse experience in a range of relevant areas, including profound expertise in pharma, finance, and operations," Teva said today in response to activist shareholder Benny Landa's severe criticism of the Teva board in a "Globes" interview.

In the interview, Landa said that Teva couldn't have both a CEO and board of directors with no pharma experience. He said that for this reason, the board was incapable of devising a strategy for the company, and called on several board members to resign and make way for prominent pharma specialists. "All the directors are excellent people with experience in their fields, but they… don't even know what questions to ask… Have they ever been in such situations? Do they understand what the pharma industry is? They didn't know what to do in the past, they don't know what to do now, and they won't know what to do tomorrow," Landa complained. "…they can't devise a strategy for a company like Teva. It's no wonder that the company made such mistakes."

In its response today, Teva stated, "In recent years, Teva has recruited directors with substantial global pharma experience, and has enhanced its board's expertise and experience in this area. The ranks of the board have been significantly reinforced with five new directors with a variety of qualifications since 2015. Most of them have extensive experience and qualifications in global pharma, with a background in business and key positions in leading pharma companies before joining the Teva board.

"We emphasize that the corporate governance and appointments committee is continually assessing the board's composition in order to ensure that it includes directors with the highest level of expertise in a range of the necessary disciplines and fields, and is acting in the best interest of all the shareholders. Ensuring diversity in fields of endeavor, qualifications, and experience among the board members, which is the usual policy at similar global pharma companies, is designed to enable the board of directors to cope with a variety of topics and difficult challenges facing this type of company. The board of directors is fulfilling its function in an extremely professional and thorough manner, and is utilizing its talents, experience, and efforts to promote the company's interests for the sake of the company's good and that of its shareholders."

Speaking yesterday at a JP Morgan conference, Teva CEO Erez Vigodman responded to questions about the company's strategy on innovation. Vigodman noted that Teva was planning to make occasional acquisitions in drug innovation suitable to the company's portfolio, and which would not require substantial investments.

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on January 10, 2017

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017

Erez Vigodman, Benny Landa Photos: Eyal Yizhar
Erez Vigodman, Benny Landa Photos: Eyal Yizhar
David Amsalem  credit  Noam Moskowitz, Knesset Spokesperson's Office Rafael to pay state NIS 444m dividend

The minister in charge of the Government Companies Authority, David Amsalem, has approved the payment by the defense company.

Barak MX air defense system  credit: IAI IAI profit jumps 55%

Israel Aerospace Industries posted a net profit of $493 million for 2024, and ended the year with an all-time high orders backlog of $25 billion.

A TSG system in tactical use  credit: PR TSG signs cooperation agreement with US defense co

The agreement includes the integration of TSG's advanced technologies into sensor-based defense systems, which will be integrated into the operational systems of US defense units.

Bria CEO Yair Adato credit: Kseniia Poliak Israeli visual generative AI co Bria raises $40m

Bria’s Visual Generative AI platform empowers businesses to create predictable, controllable, and on-brand content that aligns with their visual language.

Amnon Shashua and Aviram Ziv credit: Eyal Izhar OrCam stymied by investor dispute with Shashua

Demands by institutional investors are blocking the visual and hearing impairment device developer's recovery plan.

Work on the Green Line credit: Bar Lavi Egged wins tender to operate TA light rail Purple, Green Lines

NTA awarded the tender to Egged, which already operates the Red Line, despite government ministry opposition to one operator for the entire network.

Gabi Seroussi illustration: Gil Gibli Board chooses Seroussi as IAI chair as Erdan freezes candidacy

Israel Aerospace Industries board chose Gabi Seroussi as chair even though he did not to go through the preliminary process of the Government Companies Authority appointments review committee.

Bavli Park penthouse credit: Eyal Tagar Tel Aviv Park Bavli penthouse sells for NIS 43m

A 44th floor penthouse in one of the two towers in businessman Yitzhak Tshuva's Park Bavli project has been bought by an Israeli businessperson.

El Al aircraft  credit: Yoav Yaari El Al pilots receive nearly NIS 250,000 bonus each

Thanks to the agreements signed with the unions in 2018, El Al's employees as well as senior management share in last year's success.

Pentera CEO Amitai Ratzon credit: Eyal Izhar Israeli security validation co Pentera raises $60m

Pentera's platform enables security teams to analyze complete attack paths, identify root causes, and prioritize remediation for effective risk reduction.

Tel Aviv credit: Shutterstock Supply of unsold new homes hits record

Israel's real estate market is sliding into recession with 78,000 unsold new apartments in January, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports.

D&B chairman Doron Cohen and Meitar partner Dan Geva Meitar reclaims title of Israel's biggest law firm

Meitar has first place with 537 lawyers, followed by Herzog Fox Neeman with 512 lawyers, according to the latest Dun's 100 rankings.

First International Bank of Israel CEO Eli Cohen  credit: Eyal Toueg First Int'l posts top return on equity

First International Bank of Israel's return on equity in 2024 was 19%, the highest among Israel's banks.

Dina Ben Tal Ganancia  credit: Guy Kushi & Yariv Fein El Al almost quintuples profit

The airline posted a net profit of $545 million for 2024, 4.7 times the profit in 2023, and an all-time high.

Gev Hadari credit: Nati Hortig Sompo Israel appoints Gev Hadari as cybersecurity head

Hadari's expertise spans penetration testing, including Red Team operations, web applications, mobile applications, OT/IOT products, and both external and internal assessments.

Attack drones credit: Shutterstock IDF issues tender for 5,000 Israeli-made attack drones

Critics of the tender say the number being procured is insufficient and thewre are security concerns about Chinese components.

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018