AZ warns of patent losses as revenues fall
pharmafile | February 4, 2016 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | AstraZeneca, Crestor, Zurampic
AstraZeneca announced full-year revenues down 7% to $24.7 billion, and Q4 sales down 5% to $6.4 billion, as the London-based company warned that patent losses on established products would hit revenues in 2016.
Chief executive Pascal Soriot said it would be a transitional year, particularly as blockbuster cholesterol drug Crestor faces generic competition in the US from May. As a result of this, as well as costs from last year’s Acerta Pharma and ZS Pharma deals, AstraZeneca expects mid-single-digit declines in both 2016 revenues and core earnings per share.
The company pointed to the approval of Zurampic in the US, and Tagrisso in both the US and EU as key developments since it last reported financial results, and predicted a productive year in the pipeline, with regulatory decisions expected for its COPD candidate PT003 and for hyperuricemia drug Zurampic in the EU. The company also expects to submit to regulators Brilinta for stroke and saxagliptin/dapagliflozin for diabetes, as well as new data from various trials in various therapeutic areas.
Commenting on the results, and prospects for the year ahead, Pascal Soriot, chief executive, says: “Our culture of innovation continued to drive R&D productivity, with six regulatory approvals in the year. This momentum will continue in 2016 as we anticipate six regulatory submissions and around ten major data readouts. We strengthened the strategic importance of oncology, bringing to patients next-generation therapies such as Tagrisso in lung cancer and Lynparza in ovarian cancer, as well as a promising immuno-oncology pipeline. Alongside this organic progress, we also continued to invest in our main therapy areas through key agreements with Acerta Pharma, ZS Pharma, and Takeda.”
Joel Levy
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