Caring for patients by increasing access to medicines: Teva’s ESG in action By Amalia Adler-Waxman, Vice President, ESG and Global Health, Teva

Walking into the Bless a Child Foundation home for children and families with childhood cancer in Kampala with our partners from Global HOPE, I was struck by the immense opportunity to save children with mostly curable cancers. It was both heartbreaking and inspiring to see so many children accompanied by their mothers, fathers and siblings who travel far distances to receive life-saving treatment.

The stories from the clinics I visited in Uganda were often heartbreaking. Health needs that are viewed as simple for so many are not met for people in these communities. But I also heard hope—hope that existing, affordable treatments could save the lives of these patients.

Teva’s mission is rooted in our commitment to access—ensuring more people are able to afford and obtain our quality medicines. We have one of the most diverse and wide-ranging portfolios of any company. Our medicines reach nearly 200 million patients every day. This is a huge responsibility.

Our recently released 2019 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Progress Report details our efforts to live up to this serious responsibility. It shares our work to improve the health of patients and communities and promote transparency and accountability across our business—work that is only possible because every person at Teva truly cares.

We also have a distinct perspective on the lifecycle of medicine development. At Teva, science meets access. We develop innovative medicines for patients that need new therapies. At the same time, when medicines are no longer patent protected, we make trusted, quality, affordable generics to help reach more people across the globe—something that is only possible because of incentives for innovation. In 2019 alone, we received approvals for more than 1,000 generic medicines and 25 specialty medicines. We spent more than $1 billion on R&D to keep our pipeline strong and donated $246 million worth of treatments.

Our report demonstrates how our actions support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, most prominently Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being. It highlights how we help patients with non-communicable diseases, especially those faced with multiple chronic conditions, in managing their own health. Over the past three years, we’ve conducted seminal research on the topic and raised awareness among health leaders. We are working with partners to support patients in navigating multiple care providers and adhering to their treatments. Now, these same patients are at increased risk of COVID-19. With our partners, we are supporting them in coping with the pandemic’s impact on their health.

Over the past few months, Teva has seen firsthand the impact of COVID-19, as a company immersed in health and as an employer of nearly 40,000 people across 60 countries. Our core value of caring is shining through—caring for our employees, who are working hard to care for our patients by maintaining a steady, sustainable supply of our quality medicines. As always, we are working to get more medicines to more people who need them.

To learn more, I encourage you to take a look at our 2019 ESG Progress Report and highlights.