Teva's earliest predecessor was Salomon, Levin, and Elstein Ltd., a wholesale distributor based in Palestine that was founded in 1901, and used camels to make deliveries.[6] During the 1930s, new immigrants from Europe founded several pharmaceutical companies including Teva ("Nature" in Hebrew), Assia, and Zori. In 1951, Teva raised capital through the newly founded Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange after the formation of the new country, Israel

 Teva holds patents on multiple drugs, including: Copaxone, a specialty drug (for the treatment of multiple sclerosis), now the world's best selling MS drug, and Azilect (sold as Agilect in some countries) for treatment of Parkinson's disease. By July 2015 Copaxone held a 31.2 percent shares of total MS prescriptions in the United States.Teva's new 40 mg version of Copaxone taken three times a week accounted for 68.5 percent of total Copaxone prescriptions in the United States. Copaxone accounts for about fifty percent of Teva's profit and 20 percent of revenue.Competitors' Glatopa, 20 mg version of Copaxone, is taken once a day.