The Royal College of Pharmacy (RCPharm) has cut ties with Israeli drug firm Teva “with immediate effect” amid pressure from pro-Palestine campaigners.
The RCPharm said it had ended its £15,000 sponsorship deal with Teva UK, which covered exhibition presence at four RCPharm events, including the college’s annual conference on November 6.
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The college told C+D last week that the move “follows a further due diligence review which has brought to our attention the possibility of certain Teva Pharmaceuticals activities which do not align with our values”.
It comes after an open letter sent by campaigners to the RCPharm’s executive team and board of trustees on September 28 expressed “profound concern” about the partnership.
It was signed by the UK Healthcare Petitions to Royal Colleges, Health Workers 4 Palestine and undersigned members of the RCPharm, among others.
“Catastrophic governance failure”
The letter said the college’s collaboration with Teva at its annual conference “would represent a catastrophic governance failure that would violate the core ethical foundations of our profession and would cause irreparable reputational damage to the college”.
“The college cannot credibly claim impartiality while accepting commercial revenue and giving brand visibility to a company whose ties to Israel’s military mobilisation raise serious ethical concerns,”it added.
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The letter also highlighted that in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) - the college’s predecessor - “stated that it had removed directly invested Russian assets from the vast majority of its funds and would remove the remainder as soon as possible”.
It said the college “should now apply the same ethical scrutiny to its investments and commercial partnerships in relation to Israel”.
And it noted that the Royal College of Nursing had announced it was ending its commercial partnership with Teva on September 23.
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The RCPharm said that prior to April 2026, when it was the RPS, Teva provided event sponsorship for a number of events that were considered on an event-by-event basis in line with the college’s policies and requirements at the time.
It added that after the college became a charity in April, it undertook a comprehensive diligence process, with the new board of trustees reviewing all of its policies to ensure they align with its values and responsibilities.
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It comes after the RCPharm issued an updated statement last month on its position on pharmacists providing non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
And it follows the college expressing “significant concerns” in July over some of the General Pharmaceutical Council’s proposed reforms to internationally qualified pharmacist training.
