Three launches this year just the beginning of Teva turnaround, CEO says

FiercePharma | By Carly Helfand 

Three new drug launches in 2014 won't save Teva's  sales if generics attack Copaxone later this week. But they certainly will help.

Those launches are just what the Israeli company has on the way, CEO Erez Vigodman told a conference Friday, according to Reuters. And that trio--comprising migraine patch Zecuity, Symbicort generic DuoResp Spiromax, and Adasuve, an inhalation powder to treat agitation in schizophrenia patients--will ultimately combine for peak sales of $1 billion, estimates say.

Of course, that's just one piece of the Israeli drugmaker's plan to get back on track after patent woes, restructuring plans, labor protests, management changes and shareholder unrest rocked the company in the past several months. Vigodman said earlier this month that Teva wants to refocus on its generics business and plunge into the biosimilars race. M&A isn't out of the question, either, and rumors listed Teva as a suitor for India's Cipla just a couple weeks ago.

"To build a new future for Teva, you need long-term value," Vigodman said Wednesday, as quoted by Israeli newspaper Globes. "This is done by strengthening infrastructures, fulfilling the potential of existing products, the ability to identify discontinuities and attack dogma and find unmet needs all over the world."

But the short term, that extra billion in sales could help sooth a top line that may soon be hurting. Best-seller Copaxone, which is responsible for more than half the company's profits and pushed Teva's sales up 2% in the first quarter with a haul of $1.07 billion, is set to lose its IP shield on May 24, freeing generics teams to launch their versions. While there's a risk there--if the Supreme Court sides with Teva after hearing its appeal in a patent infringement case, copycats will have to pay damages--that may not deter them.