AstraZeneca’s hopes to launch several cancer, respiratory and metabolic diseases drugs, as it expects to see the effects of its long-term growth. The drugmaker nears the end of its patent-expiry period as it expects to bring new medicines to the store.
Total revenue declined by 7% in the year and by 13% in the quarter, as Crestor generic medicines enter the the US market, and the impact of Nexium generic drugs dropped. Sales of Crestor and Nexium in the US went down by 57% and 39%.
The company has reported net profit of $3,5 billion in 2016, compared to $2.83 billion in 2015.
New cancer products brought $664 million, third of it in the fourth quarter. The sales of Tagrisso itself brought $423million in its first year. AstraZeneca spends over 40% on the Oncology pipeline of R&D
Twelve new drugs in Phase III
Twelve potential new drugs are in third phase studies, under regulatory review, namely in the areas of Oncology, Cardiovascular, Metabolic Diseases and Respiratory.
Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, commenting on the results said: “We brought a sharper strategic focus to our three main therapy areas, boosting pipeline productivity further as we saw with Priority Review Designations for durvalumab and Tagrisso, as well as regulatory submission acceptances for durvalumab in bladder cancer and for benralizumab in severe, uncontrolled asthma. Our underlying business is growing as a new AstraZeneca emerges, driven by competitive franchises and Emerging Markets.”
AstraZeneca expects a single-digit percentage decline in revenue for the 2017.
“The sum of Externalisation Revenue and Other Operating Income in FY 2017 is anticipated to be ahead of that in FY 2016. Sustainable and ongoing income is expected to increase further as a proportion of Externalisation Revenue in FY 2017. Core R&D costs are expected to be broadly in line with those in FY 2016 and the Company anticipates a further reduction in Core SG&A costs, reflecting the evolving shape of the business,” the company said.