Today, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TASE: TEVA; NYSE: TEVA) announced the launch of a technological innovation program in drug development, at an investment expected to reach tens of millions of dollars.
Teva will announce challenges for innovation along its entire development chain, from discovery of new drugs to improvement of clinical trial processes, to logistics and marketing. Startups that participate in these challenges and are selected by the company will conduct pilot programs for integrating their technologies within Teva, fully financed by the company.
The program is international, but is being launched in Israel in collaboration with the Israel Innovation Authority, the 8400 Health Network, and Startup Nation Central. Teva said that it hoped that Israeli companies would be leading participants in the challenges.
New challenges twice a year
Teva intends to launch new challenges twice yearly on set dates. In addition to the call for proposals, Teva will actively look for companies that could be appropriate for participation. As mentioned, the challenges will concern the integration of innovations in all areas of Teva’s business. For example, one area in which a challenge might be launched is technologies for reducing the use of animal trials.
Yossi Ofek, general manager of Teva Israel, said, “Two years ago, we launched our Pivot to Growth strategy, the aim of which was to place a greater emphasis on innovative products and to grow faster in the coming years. So far, that strategy has been very successful. We are now at the acceleration stage.
“In order to continue to grow rapidly, we also need to be at the forefront of the adoption of the new supporting technologies in the drug business, specifically in AI. The aim is to reach a situation in which we can bring more drugs to the market, at lower cost, in a shorter time, for the benefit of Teva and of humanity as a whole.”
Israel is a world leader in these areas. “Teva’s connection with the Israeli biomed ecosystem is already strong,” says Ofek. “We invested, for example, in the Sanara incubator for digital health and medical devices, and later in Sanara Capital. There are already fifteen startups there. We are investors in the Aion Labs venture studio, together with other companies, where we set up companies that use artificial intelligence to meet challenges at the cutting edge of science at the advanced stages of drug development. We have cooperation arrangements with academic institutions in Israel, chiefly in brain research, and in the wake of the war we have also set up a support project in mental health. We also have a support program for those who treat patients, and we also support accelerators in the areas of psychological resilience and health.” Teva already has several collaborations with Israeli AI companies.
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Teva CEO and president Richard Francis came to Israel specially for the launch of the challenge here. This is not the first time that Francis has come to Israel in less than ideal conditions from a security point of view. Francis stressed the reputation and success of the local ecosystem and the potential for creative cooperation.
Mark Sabag, Teva executive vice president International Markets Commercial, said, “We are looking at Israel for the long term, and we see great potential there and a future engine for finding the best solutions for many links in the Teva value chain – from drug development, to production, operations, and the commercial side. This is also a significant opportunity for Israeli companies to enter into a partnership with a leading global company and to open up international markets.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on June 30, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
