Teva Cares Foundation

Teva Cares Foundation operates with a fundamentally different giving philosophy than most philanthropic foundations. Its primary function — representing more than 95% of its disbursements — is a Patient Assistance Program (PAP) that delivers free Teva-brand prescription medications directly to low-income patients, not grants to organizations. This is an operating foundation, funded entirely by Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc. contributions ($288.8M in FY2024), governed by unpaid Teva staff, and structured as an independent legal entity to administer drug donations.

For organizations seeking institutional grant funding, the relevant entry point is the Community Routes: Access to Mental Health Care program — a separate initiative run in partnership with the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC) and Direct Relief. Under Community Routes, Teva awards $75,000 grants to free and charitable clinics providing behavioral health services to uninsured and underserved patients. This is not a traditional open-application grant program; it functions as an invited partnership administered through NAFC, making NAFC membership or an existing relationship with Direct Relief the critical precondition.

The foundation strongly favors free and charitable clinics — organizations that provide care regardless of ability to pay, typically without billing insurance as the primary mechanism. Recipients serve patients with depression and anxiety, with a documented emphasis on bilingual, bicultural care that reduces stigma and improves treatment adherence among Hispanic and other underserved communities.

First-time applicants should recognize that there is no publicly posted open RFP for Community Routes grants. Teva selects geographies based on state-level mental health access data and then works through the NAFC network to identify eligible clinics. The relationship progression runs: NAFC membership → geographic selection by Teva → clinic nomination → grant execution. Organizations interested in future funding cycles should join NAFC, document their mental health service capacity, and build relationships with NAFC staff who communicate directly with Teva program officers. Direct outreach to the foundation's Parsippany address is unlikely to yield results given the intermediary structure.

Teva Cares Foundation's financial profile is atypical for a grantmaking foundation. The overwhelming bulk of its giving consists of donated pharmaceutical inventory valued at cost, not cash grants to nonprofits. In FY2024, the foundation reported $288.8M in total revenue (all contributions from Teva Pharmaceuticals) and $172.1M in charitable disbursements — the sharpest single-year increase in the foundation's recorded history, likely reflecting updated drug-donation valuation methodology. FY2023 was comparatively modest: $17.6M in contributions received, $18.3M in grants paid, and $21.6M in total giving, with $4.1M in assets.

Historical giving trended downward from a peak of $50.9M in FY2013 to a low of $21.6M in FY2023 before the FY2024 surge: - FY2013: $50.9M total giving - FY2019: $34.3M - FY2020: $30.5M - FY2021: $28.7M - FY2022: $32.6M - FY2023: $21.6M - FY2024: $172.1M (drug-donation valuation increase)

All IRS-reported giving flows to two categories: donated drug inventories ($72.7M across 3 grant records for 2020-2023) and direct patient distributions ($27.7M in one record). The Community Routes institutional grants are a small but strategically significant component: $75,000 per clinic, 11 clinics funded in the 2025 cycle (total ~$825,000 in cash), across 10 states. The full four-year program commitment is $4 million ($2M for 2022-2024 plus $2M for 2025-2026). All officer compensation is zero across every recorded fiscal year. The foundation carries zero liabilities. Geographic giving under the PAP is concentrated in New Jersey, with Community Routes reaching Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

The database identifies five peer foundations by similar asset size within the Health NTEE category. Teva Cares is structurally distinct from all peers — it is a corporate-sponsored operating foundation, not an independent endowment-driven grantmaker.

Teva Cares stands apart from its asset-size peers in three key ways: it is fully funded by a single corporate parent rather than endowment returns, meaning its annual giving is tied to Teva Pharmaceuticals' financial condition and strategic priorities rather than investment performance; its giving volume swings dramatically based on drug-donation valuation decisions; and its only route to institutional grant funding for outside organizations runs through a specific intermediary (NAFC), not an open portal. Among identified peers, Potomac Health Foundation (potomachealthfoundation.org) is the most accessible alternative, operating open community health grant cycles in Virginia.

The most significant recent development is the February 27, 2025 announcement of the third Community Routes grant cycle: 11 free and charitable clinics in Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas each received $75,000, funded by a new $2M Teva commitment for 2025-2026. This represents a meaningful geographic expansion from the program's 2022 launch in California, Florida, and New Jersey. The 2025 recipients include Medical Outreach Ministries (Montgomery, AL), Ozanam Charitable Pharmacy (Mobile, AL), St. Michael's Medical Clinic (Anniston, AL), Bethel Free Clinic (Biloxi, MS), Brother Bill's Helping Hand (Dallas, TX), Heal the City Free Clinic (Amarillo, TX), Ibn Sina Foundation (Houston, TX), Mercy Clinic of Fort Worth, The Agape Clinic (Dallas, TX), Health for All (Bryan, TX), and Woven Health Clinic (Farmers Branch, TX).

Over the program's first two years, grantees reached 63,000+ beneficiaries, conducted 24,617 mental health screenings, trained 2,800+ community members and staff, and organized 131 community education events.

In 2024, Community Routes received the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Citizens Award for Best Health & Wellness Program — a second major award after the 2023 Global Generics & Biosimilars CSR Initiative of the Year recognition. Leadership at the foundation remains stable: Chair Kelley Dougherty, President Carol Richardson, Treasurer Nicole Higgins, and Vice Chair Brian Sharkey. The foundation's most recent 990 was filed November 11, 2025, covering FY2024.

Community Routes is not an open RFP. There is no application form, grant portal, or published deadline for organizations seeking Community Routes funding. Teva selects geographies based on mental health access data and then invites NAFC member clinics. This means the actionable path to funding runs through organizational positioning long before any grant cycle opens.

Build your NAFC relationship first. All known Community Routes recipients are NAFC members. NAFC membership is the de facto prerequisite for being considered. Join NAFC (nafc.net), engage with state chapter leaders, and attend the annual conference where Teva program contacts are present.

Document behavioral health capacity with specifics. Teva funds depression and anxiety treatment at the primary care level. Be ready to present: licensed behavioral health FTEs, annual mental health encounters, screening tools in use (PHQ-9, GAD-7 adoption rates), percentage of patients below 300% FPL, and community education event frequency.

Lead with bilingual and culturally competent care. A clear pattern across funded clinics — from Los Angeles to Houston — is Spanish-language service capacity. Clinics with bilingual clinical and navigational staff, translated materials, and documented cultural competency training should feature this prominently in any outreach.

Target underrepresented geographies. Based on the 2022 cohort (CA, FL, NJ) and 2025 cohort (AL, MS, TX), Teva rotates toward states with large uninsured populations and mental health professional shortages not yet represented. Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia are active program states; other Southern, Gulf Coast, and rural Midwest states may be advantaged in future cycles.

Avoid direct cold outreach to Parsippany. The foundation address (400 Interpace Parkway, Parsippany, NJ 07054) reaches Teva Pharmaceuticals staff with no dedicated grants team. All program dialogue goes through NAFC and Direct Relief. Build relationships with Direct Relief's health programs team as a second access channel.

Prepare for a $75,000 fixed award. Budget planning should be built around this figure. Appropriate uses include behavioral health staffing time, community outreach events, stigma-reduction programming, patient navigation, and screening tools — not capital or facilities.