Teva, corruption in the world. A case study: “Teva in Spain".

Press release

Report just published, Teva a case study:

“Teva in Spain. A pharmaceutical giant whose profits harm the health of the people of Palestine”.

Summary

Free access to the full report at: https://www.nogracias.org/2025/01/01/teva-en-espana-un-gigante-farmaceutico-cuyas-ganancias-danan-la-salud-de-la-poblacion-de-palestina-profesionales-de-la-sanidad-por-palestina-espana-healthworkers4palestinespain/

Author:
HealthWorkers4PalestineSpain (HealthWorkers4PalestineSpain, HW4PalestineSpain)ⁱ

Contact: hcw4palestinespain@gmail.com

Introduction
Teva was founded in 1901. Its headquarters are in Israel. It has a plant in Zaragoza, Spain, with 600 workers, where many medicines marketed by Teva worldwide are producedⁱⁱ,ⁱⁱⁱ.  Zaragoza is also responsible for the comprehensive management of storage, secondary packaging and distribution of investigational medicinal products intended for clinical trials worldwide.

About Teva and its medicines
Teva forecasts revenues of over $16.4 billion in 2024, relying on generic medicines (which have lost their patents) that are sold only under the name of the active ingredient, such as paracetamol, omeprazole, enalapril, metformin, budesonide, monteluskat, etc. In Spain under the names Teva, Tevagen, Davur, Belmac and Ratiopharm. Teva is the world's largest generic drug company.
It also markets other drugs such as Austedo (deutetrabenazine) for Huntington's disease and various GLP-1 drugs (gliclazide, sitagliptin, liraglutide, etc) for diabetes-obesity.
Its ‘star’ products are Ajovy (fremanezumab) for migraine, Copaxone (glatiramer) for multiple sclerosis, Uzedy (risperidone) for schizophrenia and Azilect (rasagiline) for parkinson^iv,^v.

Teva and corruption
To promote sales of its medicines, Teva has engaged in corrupt practices that have been discovered and condemned.
Thus, a fine in 2016, in the United States, of 519 million dollars, in relation to bribes to sell Copaxone^vi.
In 2022, also in the United States, Teva was ordered to pay $4.25 billion for off-label promotion of its opioid drugs, which contributed to the epidemic of overdose deaths^vii.
In 2023, Teva was fined $225 million for its corrupt practices with pravastatin (for ‘cholesterol’)^viii.
For bribery, also in relation to Copaxone, a US fine of $450 million in 2024^ix.
In relation to the same drug, Teva was fined 462.6 million euros by the European Union in 2024 for abuse of dominance^x.

Between 2010 and 2024, Teva paid US$9 billion in convictions and fines for corruption proven in courts around the world^xi.

Currently, at the end of 2024, Teva is under investigation in the US for increasing prices and impeding competition by making changes to its generic asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) medicines^xii.

Teva, sales in Spain
In 2023, in Spain, Teva was, by volume of sales to the Sistema Nacional de Salud (the public health system), the third largest pharmaceutical company, with 70 million packs and spending of more than 500 million euros.

Teva's advertising to professionals in Spain in 2023
Industries call the financing of their marketing activities with payments to professionals ‘transfers of value’, including travel, accommodation, meals and remuneration for consultancy, conferences and other activities.
In Spain, in 2023, Teva declared €2,010,412 in ‘transfers of value”^xiii.
Payments to healthcare professionals €961,819
Payments to associations: €811,811
Payments related to research: €236,782
Teva reported payments (transfers of value) to almost 1500 healthcare professionals in 2023 (the vast majority at around €600). There wre 12 professionals with ‘transfers of value’ of more than €10,000 in 2023. Stand out as the best paid:
- Patricia Pozo Rosich, Barcelona, neurologist, €31,654.
- José Miguel Laínez Andrés, Valencia, neurologist, 14,619 €.
- Roberto Chacón Puig, Barcelona, pharmacist, 14,324 €.
- Rogelio Leira Muiño, Santiago de Compostela, neurologist, 13,720 €.
- Pablo Irimia Sieira, Pamplona, neurologist, €13,173
- María Carmen González Oria, Sevilla, neurologist €13,629
Teva declared payments (transfers of value) to 45 organizations, around €3,000 each. Of particular note are:
- SEN Foundation (Spanish Society of Neurology), Barcelona, 149,645 €.
- Fundació Hospital Universitari Valle D'Hebron. Institut de Recerca, Barcelona, 112,850 €.
- Sociedad Española de Farmacia Clínica, Familiar y Comunitaria, SEFAC, Madrid, 90,985 €.
- Fundación Investigación y Formación de la SMEG (Sociedad Española de Médicos Generales y de Familia), Madrid, 87,483 €.
- Fundació Institut de Recerca del Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, 53,800 €.

Why do we propose a boycott of the pharmaceutical company TEVA, and all its brands, Tevagen, Dalvur, Belmac and Ratiopharm?
Why?
- because it generates millions of dollars in revenue for the Israeli military and colonial regime, thus facilitating genocide and the apartheid regime
- because it profits from the advantages of occupation, monopoly and exploitation of the Palestinians
- because it sells its pharmaceuticals to Palestinians above their market price
Teva's profits come directly from decades of colonisation and exploitation of Palestinian land and people and help finance Israel's illegal and criminal activities. It is our duty to do all we can to ensure that our money is not used to further genocidal and colonial oppression^xiv.

Teva drugs

‘The Health Authorities do NOT warn that this medicine seriously harms Palestinian health’.
Boycott Teva, Tevagen, Davur, Belmac and Ratiopharm, their medicines and products.
Don't prescribe, don't dispense, don't consume
Don't help kill Palestinian women, children and the elderly.