Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited Says it May Divest Animal Health Business

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited Says it May Divest Animal Health Business
1/14/2008

JERUSALEM -- Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq:TEVA - News) announced today that it is exploring strategic alternatives for its animal health business, including a possible divestiture. This decision follows the strategic review the Company conducted in 2007.

Teva's animal health business develops, manufactures and markets proprietary and generic animal health products, principally in the U.S. and Israel, serving all major companion and farm animal segments with both prescription and over-the-counter products. The business also markets some of its products internationally.

Shlomo Yanai, Teva's President and CEO, commented, "Our animal health business has a strong and broad portfolio of products with excellent leadership and good growth prospects for the future. Nevertheless, we believe it is the right time for us to explore strategic alternatives for this business as we focus on Teva's core business to maximize our long term growth potential."

Teva has retained Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. as its financial advisor to assist in this matter.

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 human pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. Over 80 percent of Teva's sales are in North America and Europe.

Safe Harbor Statement under the U. S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

This release contains forward-looking statements, which express the current beliefs and expectations of management. Such statements are based on management’s current beliefs and expectations and involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause Teva’s future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include risks relating to: Teva's ability to accurately predict future market conditions including pricing and margins with regard to sales of the generic version of Protonix®, potential liability for sales of generic products prior to a final resolution of outstanding patent litigation, including that relating to the generic versions of Allegra®, Neurontin®, Lotrel® Famvir® and Protonix®, Teva`s ability to successfully develop and commercialize additional pharmaceutical products, the introduction of competing generic equivalents, the extent to which Teva may obtain U.S. market exclusivity for certain of its new generic products and regulatory changes that may prevent Teva from utilizing exclusivity periods, competition from brand-name companies that are under increased pressure to counter generic products, or competitors that seek to delay the introduction of generic products, the impact of consolidation of our distributors and customers, the effects of competition on our innovative products, especially Copaxone® sales, the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and pending legislation that could affect the pharmaceutical industry, the difficulty of predicting U.S. Food and Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency and other regulatory authority approvals, the regulatory environment and changes in the health policies and structures of various countries, our ability to achieve expected results though our innovative R&D efforts, Teva’s ability to successfully identify, consummate and integrate acquisitions, potential exposure to product liability claims to the extent not covered by insurance, dependence on the effectiveness of our patents and other protections for innovative products, significant operations worldwide that may be adversely affected by terrorism, political or economical instability or major hostilities, supply interruptions or delays that could result from the complex manufacturing of our products and our global supply chain, environmental risks, fluctuations in currency, exchange and interest rates, and other factors that are discussed in Teva’s Annual Report on Form 20-F and its other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Chief Financial Officer Dan Suesskind, 972 2 941-1717 or Investor Relations: Liraz Kalif, 972 3 926-7281 or Teva North America Investor Relations: Kevin Mannix, 215-591-8912 Website: www.tevapharm.com