By Siddhi Mahatole
April 29 (Reuters) – Teva Pharmaceutical beat first-quarter profit estimates on Wednesday as growth in its branded drug portfolio more than offset challenges in its generics business, sending its New York-listed shares up nearly 11% in early trading.
Traditionally dependent on generic medicines, the company has increasingly focused on expanding its portfolio of branded drugs to boost sales and profitability.
Teva lost its multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone to generic competition and now relies on three medicines – Huntington’s disease drug Austedo, migraine drug Ajovy and schizophrenia treatment Uzedy – which together generated $3.1 billion in revenue in 2025 and are expected to bring in $3.6 billion this year.
J.P.Morgan analyst Chris Schott said investor focus was increasingly shifting to Teva’s branded portfolio, with core assets led by Austedo “growing nicely” and a series of pipeline updates expected later this year.
CEO Richard Francis said it was “hard to understand and predict” whether there would be a drawdown of Teva’s top-selling drug Austedo ahead of price negotiations under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act in 2027.
Quarterly sales of Austedo rose 41% year-over-year to $578 million.
“With bottom-line and top-line growth improving in 2027+ we continue to see an attractive setup for shares,” Schott added.
Chief Financial Officer Eli Kalif said the company is seeing “nominal increases” in some transportation and energy costs linked to the Middle East conflict, adding that the impact has been very limited.
Israel-based Teva, the world’s largest generics drugmaker, earned adjusted profit per share of 53 cents, compared with analysts’ estimate of 48 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG. Its quarterly revenue came in at $3.98 billion, above estimates of $3.8 billion.
Separately, Teva said it would acquire drug developer Emalex Biosciences for $700 million, with up to $200 million in milestone payments plus royalties, gaining access to its experimental neurological drug ecopipam. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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