AstraZeneca plc (LON: AZN) have positively updated shareholders on their Chinese operations, however shares have remained in red.
“AstraZeneca is a global pharmaceutical company with a major UK presence. Our purpose is to push the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines. The best way we can help patients is to be science-led and share this passion with the scientific, healthcare and business communities of the UK.”
Shares of AstraZeneca modestly dipped 0.027% on Thursday afternoon, and trade at 7,313p. 5/12/19 12:17BST.
AstraZeneca have had a stellar 2019, as the firm firstly reported a 12% rise in first half year sales back in July, which saw shares in green.
First-half product sales rose 12% to $11,183 million, which saw shares spike by over 6% on the back of new medication sales.
In November, the firm once again hit the bullseye. The FTSE100 listed firm won the approval for Roxadustat in China, and also won access to the Japanese market for the treatment of dialysis patients with anaemia from chronic kidney disease.
Additionally, shareholders got further excitement when the firm mentioned a a collaboration deal with US based FibroGen (NASDAQ: FGEN) for Roxadustat, saying that “pooled efficacy analyses from Phase III programme showed that roxadustat did not increase the risk of cardiovascular events”.
Today, shareholders have got the icing on the cake for 2019, as the firm confirmed with Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) that it had received marketing authorization from China’s National Medical Products Administration for their Lynparza drug.
The approval in China is based off the successful results from the III SOLO-1 trial, which showed that Lynparza significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 70% in women with BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer following response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
The company said Lynparza, which is being jointly developed and commercialised by AstraZeneca and Merck, is currently approved in 65 countries, including the EU, US and Japan. China has the highest prevalence of ovarian cancer globally, with more than 52,000 new cases diagnosed in 2018, the company noted.
Roy Baynes, senior vice president and head of Global Clinical Development, chief medical officer, MSD Research Laboratories, said: “Today’s approval of Lynparza reinforces the importance of patients knowing their BRCA mutation status at diagnosis.
“We are proud to provide a new option for the treatment of this devastating disease in China, and we will continue to collaborate with the Chinese government and healthcare organizations to provide Lynparza to patients who need it as quickly as possible.
In November, AstraZeneca said it would create a new global research & development centre and an artificial intelligence innovation centre, both in Shanghai, and a “first-of-its-kind” healthcare industrial fund with China International Capital Corp Ltd (HKG: 3908).
