AstraZeneca (LON: AZN) has revealed a rise in sales and revenue for the year to date.
The pharma giant said in its latest trading update that sales had grown 9% to $18,879m whilst overall revenue had increased 8% compared to the year previously.
Pascal Soriot, the chief executive, commented: “We made encouraging headway in the quarter, despite the ongoing disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights of the sales performance included further success in Oncology and an acceleration in the progress of Farxiga.
“Our pipeline also excelled, with Farxiga expanding its potential beyond diabetes and heart failure with ground-breaking new data in chronic kidney disease, while regulatory submission acceptance was achieved for anifrolumab in lupus. In the fight against COVID-19, we advanced our vaccine collaboration with the University of Oxford and are launching Phase III trials for our long-acting antibody combination for the prophylaxis and treatment against COVID-19 for people who need an immediate defence or whose weaker immune systems mean they are less likely to benefit from a vaccine.
“We continue to progress in line with our expectations and maintain our full-year guidance, which is underpinned by the strategy of sustainable growth through innovation,” Soriot added.
AstraZeneca is working with the University of Oxford on a coronavirus vaccine. It said yesterday that it had missed targets of delivering 30 million doses of the vaccine to UK officials by the end of September. Instead, the company will deliver four million doses.
“The predictions that were made in good faith at the time were assuming that absolutely everything would work and that there were no hiccups at all”, said UK vaccine taskforce chair, Kate Bingham.
AstraZeneca shares (LON: AZN) are trading at 8.550,00 (1205GMT).