CEO of the world's largest generic pharmaceutical company: Questioning the ability to produce APIs in the U.S.

There are no big API producers in the U.S., and investors are heartened by the possibility that Kodak could reinvent itself as an API maker.
, Kodak's share price rose more than 200 per cent on July 28th and more than 300 per cent the next day.
an interview on Wednesday, Teva's chief executive, Kåre Schultz, said that given the high cost of labor, health, safety and compliance, a large loan alone would not make it feasible to produce APIs in the United States.
Schultz added: "Unless there is a structural change, getting loans from the government and starting to produce APIs will not make the company profitable or operate sustainably."
"We have been discussing with the government possible changes, which are structural changes.
, that is, API production in the United States is sustainable only if demand for API local production is put forward in other countries.
" Most of the world's APIs come from India and China, an issue that attracted much attention in the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic, as experts first worried that chinese factories could shut down and harm the world's drug supply, and then those countries would ban exports of scarce raw materials.
concerns over the past few weeks appear to have fueled a new impetus to bring API production back to the United States.
production of its own APIs at its plants around the world, including in Europe.
Schultz said he would be happy to do more API production in the US, but stressed: "We are happy to do so, but only on the premise of sustainable profitability, and lending does not really solve the problem."
as for the state of the pandemic drug companies, Schultz said the company has been able to avoid severe supply chain disruptions.
"We are pleased that we have been able to show resilience and stay operational during this challenging period."
think our business is in good shape.
" Ref: Teva CEO Has Doubts About Making Generic-Drug Ingredients in the U.S. By Josh Nathan-Kazis. Aug. 5, 2020。