As part of a plan to reduce its $32.5 billion debt burden, Teva Pharmaceuticals closed offices in New York City and Washington D.C., according to The Calcalist.
According to Teva's CEO Kåre Schultz, the New York offices were too expensive and the Washington D.C., offices were mainly used by company lobbyists, which are not needed anymore. Since Teva belongs to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, a lobby group that represents generic manufacturers, the drugmaker decided to eliminate the expense of employing their own lobbyists and holding those offices.
Teva's plan to reduce debt includes divesting non-core assets, slimming down its expenses and laying off 14,000 employees globally. Since announcing the restructuring plan in December 2017, the generic drugmaker has reduced its debt load by $3.3 billion, from $35.8 billion to $32.5 billion.
It is unclear how many employees are affected by the office closures.