AstraZeneca sets out growth strategy
pharmafile | March 21, 2013 | News story | Sales and Marketing | AstraZeneca, R&D
AstraZeneca has set out an ambitious plan designed to return it to growth which eschews diversification and sets great store on its Phase II pipeline to deliver relatively quick returns.
It is a busy time for the company, which earlier this week announced it was to restructure global R&D operations to make it more responsive, creating a brand new UK R&D centre in Cambridge, while augmenting others in the US and Sweden.
R&D effort and most of its money will now be funnelled into three core therapy areas: respiratory, inflammation & autoimmunity; cardiovascular & metabolic disease; and oncology.
The idea is to “create a portfolio more weighted towards specialty care, balancing our traditional strengths in primary care”.
AstraZeneca wants to push its Phase II biologics pipeline more quickly into late-stage programmes and will also speed up development of several new molecular entities – action it says could double its Phase III pipeline by 2016.
It will also put more money into extending the life of existing late-stage brands such as Brilinta, Forxiga, Bydureon and lesinurad.
Much of this will be targeted at bolstering Brilinta’s place in the market, but AstraZeneca will also work with partner Bristol-Myers Squibb to strengthen its position in the non-insulin diabetes market.
It also sees investment in China and Japan as crucial, and wants annual high single digit revenue growth in emerging markets generally. The company insists it will continue to be active in infection & vaccines and in neuroscience, although “our investments will be more opportunity-driven”.
“Our vision is clear: to be a global biopharmaceutical company with a focused portfolio in core therapy areas, underpinned by distinctive science and a growing late-stage pipeline, with sound financials offering attractive returns for investors,” said chief executive Pascal Soriot.
“AstraZeneca is committed to delivering great medicines to patients through innovative science and excellence in development and commercialisation,” he added. “We see no case for diversification.”
Investors have heard promises of growth before, and their dissatisfaction was a key factor key factor in the departure of Soriot’s predecessor David Brennan last year.
Mindful of hostages to fortune in an uncertain global economic environment, the manufacturer says: “We do not think it is meaningful to provide a specific value or timings for long-term revenues.”
However, it does say that if things go well it can “significantly exceed current market consensus for 2018 revenues of $21.5 billion”.
But Soriot is savvy enough to know that “our success will ultimately be measured by the quality of execution” and he is certainly saying all the right things.
“I’m confident that we have set out on the right path to return to growth and achieve scientific leadership, and I’m equally confident that our people possess the talent, determination and focus to deliver for patients as well as our shareholders,” Soriot insisted.
AstraZeneca sees its strategic priorities as:
- Driving on-market growth platforms
- Moving forward Phase II pipeline, which it says ‘has the potential’ to double Phase III asset volume by 2016
- Delivering on promise of biologics portfolio
- Launching steady flow of speciality care products
- Restructuring R&D
- ‘Dramatically simplifying’ the business.
The company promises more tie-ups with academic institutions “to increase our understanding of disease biology”, and has just signed a collaboration with the Karolinska Institutet, a Swedish medical university.
Adam Hill
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