AstraZeneca raises sales and profit forecast as demand for therapies grows

AstraZeneca's drug pipeline has evolved significantly under CEO Pascal Soriot since he took over more than a decade ago

Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca on Thursday raised its sales and profit forecast for 2024 after beating analyst expectations for second-quarter revenue on strong demand for its cancer and rare disease medicines.

Sales in AstraZeneca's top business, oncology, grew 19 per cent at constant currency rates to $5.33 billion and accounted for 41 per cent of the total, while its rare disease and heart and kidney disease divisions also each raked in double-digit growth.

The shares were down 2.7 per cent at 0730 GMT.

The UK's most valuable company in terms of its market capitalisation of 189.4 billion pounds ($243.89 billion) has evolved significantly since CEO Pascal Soriot took over 12 years ago. New technologies such as antibody-drug conjugates are making up a rising proportion of its future cancer therapies.

The sales outlook reflects how the company has moved beyond the Covid vaccine, its best-selling product at the height of the pandemic in 2021, thanks to its roster of cancer therapies and a strong pipeline, including new treatments in other disease areas by the end of the decade.

AstraZeneca now expects both 2024 revenue and core earnings per share to increase by a mid-teens percentage at constant currency rates. It had previously expected revenue and profit to increase by a low double-digit to low-teens percentage.

"In the year to date we have continued to make encouraging progress with several disruptive technologies ... all of which have the potential to drive our growth beyond 2030," CEO Soriot said.

At its investor day in May, the company announced it aimed to grow revenue by about 75 per cent to $80 billion by 2030, citing the expected launch of 20 new medicines and growth in its cancer, biopharmaceuticals and rare disease portfolio.

Total revenue in the quarter rose 17 per cent on a constant-currency basis to $12.94 billion for the three months ended June, while core earnings came in at $1.98 per share.

Analysts, on average, were expecting profit of $1.98 per share on revenue of $12.6 billion for the quarter, according to a company-compiled consensus.

By the end of Wednesday, the shares were up about 14 per cent so far this year. British rival GSK's shares are up 4.1 per cent this year and Swiss drugmaker Roche's stock is up 11 per cent this year, compared with the STOXX 600 Index up 7 per cent.

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