Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) said Wednesday it launched the Teva Rise platform aimed at connecting startups and technology firms to its business units and allowing them to pilot their products and services with the company as well as scale across the company's global ecosystem.

The first group of startups that will be selected for the program will be asked to create tools to address seven real-world challenges faced by the pharmaceutical industry in research and development, manufacturing and supply chain, commercial and medical affairs, Teva said.

The company said it plans to invest "tens of millions of dollars" in adopting products and services that will provide it with a competitive advantage.