AstraZeneca’s (LON:AZN) profits and sales both fell as patent expiries and heavy restructuring took their toll on the UK pharma's first half.
Revenues dipped 10% to US$5.6bn in the second quarter as another generic competitor to cholesterol drug Crestor entered the US market.
Two other stalwarts, Nexium for heartburn and bipolar treatment Seroquel XR, also saw sharply lower sales as generic competition increased.
New products did better with an 8% rise to US$3.7bn during the half with an especially strong performance from new heart disease drug Brilinta. It sales jumped 51% over the second quarter to US$214mln.
Over the half year, earnings tumbled by 45% reflecting restructuring charges related to a recently-announced cost reduction programme.
Core EPS declined 20%, while interim pre-tax profits dropped to US$693mln from US$1.25bn.
Pascal Soriot, chief executive, said, the first half was ‘as expected’ given the patent expiries.
Newer products continued to advance, he added, and made up over 60% of revenue.
“Alongside positive results for our first potential Respiratory biologic medicine, benralizumab, and for Tagrisso in second-line lung cancer, we are encouraged by the rapid patient recruitment in our Immuno-Oncology durva/treme combination programmes.”
Guidance for the year was unchanged at a low to mid single-digit percentage decline in both earnings and revenues.