Teva's New CEO Francis Takes Over A Steadier – Though Still Rocky – Organization

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.'s new CEO Richard Francis takes over from Kare Schultz effective 1 Jan., and will be responsible for returning Teva to growth for the first time since 2017. The troubled generic and specialty drug maker has faced almost an endless series of obstacles since Schultz took the helm in 2017, and while Schultz worked to stabilize the company's financial foundation in the face of headwinds, the company never did meet his return to growth objectives.

Francis is an experienced executive in the generic drug industry, having previously led Sandoz Inc., the generic drug business owned by Novartis AG. He stepped down from Sandoz in 2019 and became partner at the health sciences investment firm Syncona and CEO of two portfolio companies, the gene therapy company Purespring Therapeutics, Ltd. and cardiovascular-focused Forcefield Therapeutics Ltd.