Teva Opts for 5,000 Job Cuts as Big Acquisitions Flop

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. became the world’s largest generic-drug maker and highest-rated pharmaceutical stock earlier in the decade by spending more than $30 billion to acquire competitors.

Now, with Teva’s stock down 37 percent from its peak as a patent protecting best-selling medicine Copaxone nears expiration, the company is no longer buying. To grapple with an expected drop in sales of the $4 billion multiple sclerosis injection, Teva is doing something it’s never done before: downsizing. The Petach Tikva, Israel-based company plans to cut 5,000 jobs to save $2 billion in annual costs by 2017.