U.S. Revenue: $15.8 billion (down 17.3%)
Global Revenue: $23 billion (down 7%)
Top Brands: Crestor ($3.4B), Symbicort ($3B), Pulmicort ($1.1B), Nexium ($2B)
R&D Spend: $5.9B (down 2%), 26% of revenue
Planned Launches: Durvalumab (bladder cancer), Benralizumab (asthma), Roxadustat (anemia)
Upcoming Patent Expirations: Crestor
AstraZeneca brought its internal overhaul A game in 2016, leaving investors humming the tune of a much-needed turning point. With patent expirations affecting top sellers like Nexium, the pharma powerhouse has been nurturing new revenue sources in the cancer, respiratory, and metabolic segments. With the mid-year arrival of generic competition, U.S. sales of cholesterol reducer Crestor dipped 22% in 2016 to $7.4 billion. Sales of Symbicort dropped 18% in the U.S. to $1.2 billion, a loss the company attributes to competition and pricing pressures. CEO Pascal Soriot expects diabetes drug Farxiga to pick up some slack and perhaps reach blockbuster status. That prediction seems a possibility after the med proved to nearly halve the chance of heart failure hospitalization and death in a type 2 diabetes study. In the immuno-oncology space, competitor missteps prompted trial redesigns, most notably in studying checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab both as a monotherapy and in combination with tremelimumab in subjects with first-line NSCLC. Data readout of the Mystic trial is expected in the second half of 2017. To pad its pipeline for long-term success, AZ is investigating new uses for rejected drugs and forming outside ventures with university scientists.
