Governor O'Malley Meets with Teva Pharmaceuticals
Company affirms commitment to Maryland
BALTIMORE, MD (May 28, 2008) – Following a meeting with company officials today at their corporate headquarters in Petach Tikva, Israel, Governor Martin O’Malley announced that Teva Pharmaceuticals, Israel’s largest bioscience company and the largest manufacturer of generic drugs in the world, has affirmed its commitment to Maryland. The global company purchased biopharmaceutical company CoGenesys in February, 2008 for $400 million. Teva said it plans to keep its current operations in Rockville, Maryland, including approximately 80 scientists and professionals working in a state-of-the-art biotech facility. Teva is also planning to greatly enhance its global biologics business, while utilizing Teva Biopharmaceuticals USA as a center of excellence.
“It is a testament to our world-class bioscience industry that we were able to attract investment from a global powerhouse like Teva, and I am gratified at the news that the company is committed to investing in Maryland,” said Governor O’Malley. “Maryland and Israel share many strengths in the technology and bioscience industries and we look forward to working with Teva to help grow their operations in Maryland.”
“Maryland is home to a diverse mix of government, education and industry excellence,” stated William S. Marth, President and CEO of Teva North America. “It is the perfect place to grow the Teva Biopharmaceuticals USA business as Maryland is truly the home of medical technology innovation.”
The announcement is one of the first during Governor O’Malley’s week-long economic development mission to Israel, which began May 27. The Governor, accompanied by a number of Maryland business and Jewish community leaders, traveled to Israel to speak at the prestigious Israel Biomed 2008 Conference in Tel Aviv, and also to meet with a number of Israeli government officials and Israeli businesses considering expanding or locating offices in Maryland.
The goal of the mission is to encourage more foreign direct investment in Maryland by Israeli companies, which already have a significant presence in the State. In addition to Teva, nearly 30 Israeli companies maintain offices in Maryland, including the U.S. business development offices of Israel’s largest defense contractors, Rafael and Israel Military Industries (IMI). Other Israeli companies in Maryland include Controp Precision Instruments, Verint Systems, Vuance, Compugen and Medispec.
In 2005, the latest data available, investment by foreign-owned companies in Maryland was $11.9 billion. An estimated 105,000 jobs, or 5.5 percent of the State’s private sector employment, can be attributed to Maryland’s foreign-owned firms, ranking Maryland 17th in the nation in the number of those employed by U.S. subsidiaries. Among the top countries with U.S. headquarters or subsidiaries in Maryland are the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Canada, France, The Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Israel and Finland.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., headquartered in Israel, is among the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the world and is the leading generic pharmaceutical company. The company develops, manufactures and markets generic and innovative pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Over 80 percent of Teva's sales are in North America and Western Europe.
[ view journal and photos from Israel trip ]
