The British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca today rewarded investors for helping to fend off a £70 billion takeover by US rival Pfizer by smashing its sales target and raising its revenue expectations for the year.
The drugmaker, which was seen as languishing in intensive care just six months ago as its biggest medicines fell off patent and a string of cancer drug hopes failed at trials, showed the strength of its recovery by posting a second consecutive quarter of growth with sales of $6.5 billion (£3.8 billion). That’s a 4% rise, thanks to new diabetes medicine Farxiga and heart drug Brilinta.
Astra’s “core” pre-tax profits, ignoring the costs of restructuring the business, were $2 billion — 1% lower than in the same three months last year. However, it said it has 14 projects in phase III clinical trials, up from eight a year ago; it now expects full-year revenues to be similar to last year’s $25.7 billion, when it had previously anticipated a single-digit percentage decline.
But chief executive Pascal Soriot still has a long way to go if he is to meet his promise — made as Astra tried to retain its independence from Pfizer — of a 75% increase in revenues to $45 billion by 2023.
The company was boosted by a $200 million payment from Pfizer for the over-the-counter launch of heartbeat treatment Nexium in America.
“Irony at work,” noted Citigroup analyst Andrew Baum. “AstraZeneca has Pfizer partially to thank for its second-quarter beat.”
