UK. Royal College of Pharmacy and Royal College of Nursing end Teva sponsorship.

8 October 2026

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), Britain’s nursing union has cut its ties with TEVA (an Israeli drug company) over the firm’s links to the country’s military and track record of corporate misconduct.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has axed Teva UK as a commercial partner and as sponsor of a forthcoming event on migraine and headaches at the union’s London headquarters.

Pro-Palestine groups who were pushing the RCN to drop Teva UK claimed the decision was “a major breakthrough for grassroots healthcare organising and the international boycott, divestment and sanctions movement” aimed at isolating Israel worldwide.

The RCN represents more than 500,000 nurses in the UK.

Teva UK is the British arm of the global drug giant Teva Pharmaceuticals, which is one of the NHS’s biggest suppliers of medicines.

It acted after coming under pressure from campaign groups Nurses for Palestine and UK Healthcare Petitions to Royal Colleges (UKHPRC) to end its relationship with Teva UK.

Carmel O’Boyle, the chair of the RCN’s ruling council, confirmed the decision in a letter to Nurses for Palestine.

“Going forward [the] RCN is ending its commercial partnership with Teva UK. Teva UK will no longer be a sponsor of the RCNi nursing leadership summit: migraine and headache services event on 30 October 2026. The event will go ahead as planned,” she said.

“We are taking this action because further due diligence showed that there are a number of Teva Pharmaceuticals’ operations, which have been the subject of legal sanction and public scrutiny, which are not in line with RCNi [the union’s publishing and education arm] and RCN values.

“We know how important it is that the RCN only enters commercial relationships with companies that represent the values of the nursing profession.”

The Royal College of Pharmacy has dropped Teva UK, the British arm of the global medicines producer Teva Pharmaceuticals, as a sponsor of and exhibitor at its annual conference next month.

Its decision comes after that of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) last week to cut its longstanding ties with Teva UK. The RCN, which represents 500,000 UK nurses, dropped Teva as a sponsor of both the union and an event on headache and migraine.

The Royal College of Pharmacy is the professional body for Britain’s 34,000 pharmacists.

Teva UK was due to be an exhibitor at four of its events as part of a £15,000 deal, the college said.

A spokesperson said it had taken its decision after realising that unspecified Teva Pharmaceuticals’ “activities”, uncovered by a “due diligence review”, did not align with its values.

“The Royal College of Pharmacy has decided to end Teva UK’s current sponsorship and exhibition presence for our forthcoming annual conference with immediate effect.

“This follows a further due diligence review which has brought to our attention the possibility of certain Teva Pharmaceuticals activities which do not align with our values”, the spokesperson said.