Teva workers in Japan slept in factory

Many of the 600 employees of Teva-Kowa Pharma Ltd. spent the night at the company's production plant, located in a Tokyo industrial zone, after Friday afternoon's 8.9 earthquake, because the city's subway system was shut down and traffic made it impossible to get home. The company's factory and offices were not damaged by the earthquake.

Teva-Kowa Pharma is a joint venture set up by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) and Kowa Company Ltd. in 2008 to produce generic drugs for the Japanese market. Through subsequent acquisition, Teva-Kowa has become Japan's fifth largest generic drug company.

Teva believes that Japan is a natural market for it, as Japan is the world's second largest pharmaceutical market, worth $87 billion a year. The population has a high proportion of the elderly, who consume more medications. In addition, the use of generic drugs is fairly low, and the Japanese government set a 2012 target to double the use of generic drugs. Teva expects Teva-Kowa sales to exceed $1 billion in 2015.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 13, 2011

Teva workers in Japan slept in factory

Many of the 600 employees of Teva-Kowa Pharma spent the night at the production plant because the Tokyo subway shut down.