Drugmaker reports 38% jump in earnings as it expands genomic medicine business
Strong sales of drugs for cancer and diabetes helped AstraZeneca beat expectations in the second quarter as the drugmaker expands its genomic medicine business with a $1bn deal to buy assets from Pfizer.
Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s chief executive, said eight medicines delivered more than $1bn of revenue in the first half, with each area of the business, except Covid-19 therapies, growing by double digits year-on-year.
Shares in AstraZeneca rose 4 per cent to £111.54 in morning trading in London.
Soriot added that the company is encouraged by positive data from its closely watched first late-stage trial of oncology drug datopotamab deruxtecan, which will be published in more detail at an upcoming medical conference.
Investors were disappointed when the company first published results from the trial earlier in July, sending the stock down almost 8 per cent. Analysts said shareholders were concerned that AstraZeneca did not say that the data showed the drug was “clinically meaningful”.
“We announced that this study was statistically positive. We didn’t say that the results were clinically meaningful. And when people see the results, they will understand why,” he said on a media call.
“But we are very encouraged because we have seen the totality of the data and I’m sure that when people see the data in details at the Congress, they will also share excitement about the potential of that too.”
AstraZeneca also announced its plan to acquire Pfizer’s early stage portfolio of gene therapies, in a deal worth up to $1bn, plus royalties on future sales.
The deal follows AstraZeneca’s entry into rare diseases with its $39bn acquisition of Alexion in 2020.
Marc Dunoyer, chief executive for the Alexion rare disease business within AstraZeneca, said the deal was “another major step forward” in its ambition to become an industry leader in genomic medicine.
Soriot echoed other pharmaceutical industry leaders in criticising the US drug pricing reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act.
He warned that it could cut returns on drugs for cancer and rare diseases, and said AstraZeneca is already changing how it allocates research and development funds because of the new law.
“The end result is that many products will be delayed in their launch in the United States,” he said. “It is really sad.”
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.15, up 38 per cent year-on-year, and higher than the consensus forecast of $1.98.
Sales were $11.2bn, up 17 per cent from the same period the year before, excluding medicines for Covid-19, and above the average analyst estimate of $11bn.
Farxiga, a drug for type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease and heart failure, became the company’s biggest seller for the first time in the quarter, with sales up 41 per cent at constant exchange rates, while sales of oncology drugs increased by 25 per cent.
The company’s executive vice-president Mene Pangalos plans to step down after a 14-year tenure that included playing a crucial role delivering the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Soriot said Pangalos had transformed AstraZeneca’s approach to research and development, delivering a more than fivefold improvement in productivity.
Alexion’s Sharon Barr will replace him, becoming responsible for drugs in cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, respiratory and immunology.
Fonte: FT