Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca on Thursday raised its profit forecast for the year as rising sales of cancer drugs offset falling sales of COVID vaccines.
The Cambridge-based company met analyst expectations by posting a 5% increase in third-quarter revenue to $11.49 billion, compared to the $11.56 billion forecast by 12 analysts, according to a report. FactSset data.
Shares in AstraZeneca AZN,
AZN,
rose 3% on Thursday, while shares in the drugmaker fell 6% over the past 12 months.
AstraZeneca’s revenue increase was largely driven by a 17% increase in cancer drug sales at constant exchange rates, to $4.66 billion, thanks to 53% higher sales of cancer immunotherapy drug Imfinzi.
Imfinzi, which was first approved in the US in 2017 and in the European Union the following year, uses altered immune cells to tackle cancer with fewer side effects than chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Higher sales in AstraZeneca’s oncology division, which accounts for 40% of company revenue, offset a 65% decline in sales in the company’s vaccines and immunotherapies division to $312 million, due to a sharp drop in COVID demand -vaccines.
Excluding lower sales of COVID vaccines around the world, AstraZeneca sales rose in all regions of the world except China, as the company showed particularly strong growth in emerging markets.
The company blamed the decline in sales from China on a reduction in promotional activities due to an anti-corruption campaign led by Chinese health authorities aimed at tackling misconduct in the country’s medical industry.
Revenues at AstraZeneca’s US division, which accounts for 42% of all sales, rose 4% at constant exchange rates to $4.86 billion, while the company’s European sales rose 9% to $2.39 billion, and sales in emerging markets outside China increased by 25%. to $1.51 billion.
Looking ahead, AstraZeneca now expects full-year 2023 core earnings per share to rise in the double digits to low teens year-on-year, compared to previous forecasts of high single digits to low percentages. double-digit increase.
Shorecap analysts, led by Roddy Davidson, said that while AstraZeneca shares “trade broadly in line with its US and European peer group, we continue to believe a premium is justified based on earnings growth and pipeline prospects.”