2 February 2018 - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries—the largest manufacturer of generic drugs in the world—is in trouble. 

This multinational company, which produces a large portfolio of generics—including several widely used oncology agents such as cisplatin, docetaxel, letrozole, and gemcitabine—has announced it will be cutting 14 000 jobs (almost a quarter of its global workforce) in attempts to salvage its ailing business. The move is a drastic response to Teva's financial woes: in 2017, the company lost more than US$20 billion from its market value, its US profits tumbled by 60%, and it is currently saddled with debts of $35 billion. 

The job cuts will be felt most acutely in Israel, the location of Teva's global headquarters, where it is one of the largest private sector employers and—alarmingly—where its shares prop up much of the national pension pot. What has gone wrong, and is Teva's situation symptomatic of wider issues in the generics industry?

Read The Lancet Oncology Editorial