The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which represents more than 500,000 healthcare professionals across the United Kingdom, has terminated its commercial partnership with Teva UK. The union has also cancelled the company's sponsorship of a neurological health summit due to be held at its London headquarters. Teva UK is a significant supplier of medicines to the NHS and a subsidiary of the global firm Teva Pharmaceuticals.

RCN leadership said internal due diligence had uncovered legal sanctions and public scrutiny involving Teva Pharmaceuticals that conflicted with the organisation's values. The union did not announce a specific incident as the trigger, but pointed to the cumulative record of the parent company.

The decision followed pressure from activist groups, including Nurses for Palestine and UK Healthcare Petitions to Royal Colleges. Both had urged the union to review its relationship with the company. Campaign organisers described the termination as a notable victory for the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks economic pressure on Israel. Teva Pharmaceuticals is an Israeli-founded firm.

Carmel O'Boyle, Chair of the RCN Council, confirmed that the summit on 30 October will go ahead without Teva's backing. She said the step was taken to keep the event in line with professional nursing standards, and that the programme and speakers would be unaffected.

Teva UK expressed disappointment at the end of a long-term partnership. The company defended its position as an NHS supplier and said the politicisation of healthcare risked harming the patients who depend on reliable access to medicines. It did not comment on the specific allegations raised by campaigners.

Campaign groups said healthcare bodies should not form corporate associations with entities linked to alleged violations of international law. They argued that professional organisations carry a particular responsibility because of the trust patients place in clinicians. The groups have not published evidence of any breach by Teva UK itself, and their statements refer to the conduct of the wider corporate group and its connections to Israel.

Teva Pharmaceuticals has faced several regulatory penalties over the past decade. In 2024, the European Commission fined the company €462.6m for anti-competitive practices. The Commission found that Teva had delayed the arrival of rival treatments for multiple sclerosis, which kept prices higher for health systems that purchase the drug.

In 2023, Teva agreed a $225m settlement with the US Department of Justice. The agreement resolved charges relating to price-fixing in the generic drug market, where prosecutors said manufacturers had coordinated to hold prices at agreed levels.

An earlier case dates to 2016, when the company reached a $519m settlement with US authorities under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The settlement addressed bribery of foreign officials in Russia, Ukraine and Mexico. It remains one of the larger resolutions of its kind involving a pharmaceutical company.

The RCN decision is likely to draw attention from other professional bodies. Campaign groups are already directing similar efforts at other organisations, and have called on the Royal College of Pharmacy to withdraw Teva's sponsorship of its conference and to remove the company's exhibition booth. The college has not yet said whether it will review the arrangement.

Teva UK remains a supplier to the NHS, and the RCN's decision does not affect those contracts. The union's action concerns its own commercial and sponsorship arrangements only. How far other health bodies follow will determine whether the move stays an isolated one or becomes a broader shift in how professional organisations vet their corporate partners.

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