By Steven Scheer TEL AVIV (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration needs to speed up generic drug approvals and exempt some drugs from funding freezes, the CEO of Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said on Monday. “In the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), there is no speed. I would like them to do things on a […]
Health
Teva Pharm CEO calls on Trump for faster US drug approvals
Audio By Carbonatix
By Steven Scheer
TEL AVIV (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration needs to speed up generic drug approvals and exempt some drugs from funding freezes, the CEO of Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries said on Monday.
“In the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), there is no speed. I would like them to do things on a regular time because the more generics we bring, the more savings we bring to the United States healthcare system, so just approve them,” Richard Francis told Reuters on the sidelines of a news conference.
“Many of these products are approved in Europe.”
He also said some drugs, such as Huntington’s treatment Austedo, should be exempt from funding restrictions.
As part of his flurry of executive orders following his return to power in January, Trump ordered government agencies to pause funds under his predecessor’s signature climate and infrastructure law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
“I don’t think having Teva part of that and having Austedo, a rare disease (treatment), part of that is necessarily the intent of the IRA,” he said.
Speaking at the news conference on Monday, Francis also downplayed the impact on Teva of protectionist tariffs the Trump administration has been rolling out.
He said Teva was in no way part of the US “balance of trade” problem.
“One in 14 scripts (prescriptions) in the United State is a Teva script so we are an integral part of the healthcare system and the volume is huge,” he said.
Turning to Trump’s most obvious trade target, Francis said Teva did not receive many supplies from China and he was not concerned about shortages. He did not give specific figures.
Teva last month reported a slightly larger than expected rise in fourth-quarter profit.
Francis said its trio of branded drugs to treat migraines, Huntington’s disease and schizophrenia, respectively Ajovy, Austedo and Uzedy, along with a healthy pipeline of drugs and biosimilars, many of which will be launched in the next couple of years, would drive further growth.
Teva’s Tel Aviv-listed shares were 0.3% lower in afternoon trading and were down 28% so far this year.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer; editing by Barbara Lewis)