Astrazeneca posted a large rise in first-half revenue and improved profit and cashflows as Britain’s biggest drugs company continued to benefit from the launch of new blockbuster drugs.
Revenue increased 14 per cent at constant currencies to $12.6 billion in the six months to the end of June, boosted by growth across its three therapy areas and all of its regions.
Sales of new medicines jumped by 45 per cent to $6.4 billion to represent half of Astrazeneca’s total global revenue.
The company is benefiting from years of investment in research and development that have transformed its pipeline and revived sales, which had been hit by a “patent cliff” including the loss of protection for Crestor, its bestselling statin.
The company was formed through the 1999 merger of Astra, of Sweden, and the British group Zeneca. It is building a delayed £1 billion global R&D and corporate headquarters in Cambridge.
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The turnaround has triggered a rally in Astrazeneca’s shares, which hit new highs this year and briefly turned it into the most valuable FTSE 100 company.
It said in its half-year results yesterday that oncology sales, which have become a key therapeutic focus, rose by 31 per cent to $5.3 billion, once more led by its trio of new cancer treatments, Tagrisso, Imfinzi and Lynparza.
Revenue in emerging markets, Astrazeneca’s biggest region, rose 15 per cent to $4.3 billion, with growth of 14 per cent to $2.7 billion in China, which has become an increasingly significant market. However, sales there were held back by the impact of Covid-19 on sales of Pulmicort, its asthma treatment.
Pre-tax profits more than doubled to $1.9 billion from $899 million last year.
The strong results, which surpassed City forecasts in the second quarter, led Astrazeneca to reiterate its full-year forecasts of revenue to increase by a “high single-digit to a low double-digit percentage” and core earnings per share by a percentage in the mid to high teens.
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However, it cautioned there were “heightened risks and uncertainties from the impact of Covid-19”, and it expects some trials to be delayed.
Pascal Soriot, chief executive since 2012, has been credited with transforming the company’s fortunes and successfully rebuffing the £55-a-share takeover approach from Pfizer, a US peer, in 2014.
The results cap a frenetic first six months of the year involving multiple drug trial read-outs, speculation about a merger with Gilead, the US biotech group, and its deepening role in Britain’s attempt to develop a vaccine for Covid-19 through a partnership with the University of Oxford.
The vaccine candidate produced encouraging interim human trial data this month and Astrazeneca is preparing to begin distribution of the vaccine from September, if more trials prove successful. It has agreed with governments to make two billion doses, including 100 million for the UK.
Astrazeneca has committed to supply the vaccine at no profit during the pandemic and Mr Soriot said it could make it for a “few dollars” per dose.
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Shares rose 136p, or 1.6 per cent, to £87.51 on the London Stock Exchange, valuing it at £114.8 billion.