AstraZeneca has booked another sales decline for the third quarter but says the impact of generic competition is starting to wane.
The Anglo-Swedish drugs giant booked a 3 percent dip (2 percent at constant exchange rates) in product sales for the period to $4.9 billion, helped by an 86 percent rise in revenues of Tagrisso (osimertinib) to $248 million, a 37 percent jump in Brilinta (ticagrelor) to $284 million and 30 percent hike in Farxiga (dapagliflozin) sales to $285 million.
The most notable sales declines included: Casodex (bicalutamide), down 18 percent to $51 million; Onglyza (saxagliptin), down 25 percent to $127 million; and Seroquel XR (quetiapine), down 67 percent at $62 million.
Operating profit came in at $1.1 billion, marking a rise of 12 percent versus the year-ago period, but core earnings per share dipped 15 percent to $1.12.
“Our financial performance in the quarter was in line with expectations, reflecting good commercial execution,” said AZ’ chief executive Pascal Soriot, commenting on the firm’s performance.
“It was, however, the raft of news flow and approvals that was most notable. In particular, the positive developments for Tagrisso and Imfinzi (durvalumab) in lung cancer and benralizumab and tezepelumab in asthma offset the disappointment of the first readout from the MYSTIC trial,” he added, also highlighting the recent accelerated approval for Calquence (acalabrutinib) for an aggressive form of blood cancer.
“This impressive momentum is set to continue with regulatory and data milestones that have the potential to show how our science-led strategy and pipeline-driven transformation are delivering for patients and shareholders.”
AZ said it is still expecting a low to mid single-digit percentage decline in 2017 total revenues, and a low to mid teens percentage decline in core EPS.
