JERUSALEM (AP) – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. says chief executive Shlomo Yanai is stepping down in May.

The company said in a release that Dr. Jeremy Levin, a former senior executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb, will replace him.

Yanai has been CEO of Teva for five years. Teva said he took the company from a business of mainly generics with $8.4 billion in annual revenue to a more diversified business with anticipated 2012 revenue of $22 billion.

The company said Yanai wanted “to move on to a new phase in his career.” Israeli media reported that Yanai, a former general, might become active in politics.

Teva is the world’s largest generic drugmaker. It also makes branded drugs for multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

Date: December 21, 2011
Source: Associated Press