Astrazeneca's logo appears at the 2021 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, China on July 7, 2021.
Costofoto | Future publications | fake images
LONDON – Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it planned to increase its total revenue to $80 billion by 2030, up 75% from $45.8 billion in 2023.
“We are very confident in this 80 billion ambition because of the pipeline and the breadth and scale of the pipeline that we see today,” AstraZeneca CFO Aradhana Sarin told CNBC's Arabile Gumede on Tuesday.
AstraZeneca will focus on its oncology, biopharmaceuticals and rare diseases businesses and expects to launch 20 additional drugs over the next six years.
“Many of them have the potential to become $5 billion drugs,” Sarin said. A company statement details that this revenue figure could be reached annually for many of the new drugs in peak years.
AstraZeneca's European-listed shares rose 0.66% at 9:35 a.m. London time following the announcement.
AstraZeneca's plans include developing drugs to treat at least half of potential cancers and developing alternatives to classic treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation.
“It will take time to replace the entire market, but we believe that today we have the technology to start replacing them,” Sarin told CNBC.
Some cancer treatments developed by AstraZeneca have already been approved by the US FDA, including the drug Enhertu, a so-called antibody-drug conjugate developed with Japanese manufacturer Daiichi Sankyo, which aims to treat breast cancer patients. .
AstraZeneca has also announced acquisitions of pharmaceutical companies, including Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc., focused on cancer treatment. On Monday, the company revealed plans to build an antibody drug conjugate manufacturing facility in Singapore.
“That is the new technology that will replace chemotherapy. It is a very complex manufacturing, so a comprehensive process is needed and that is why we decided to make this investment in Singapore,” Sarin said. Investments have also been made in other AstraZeneca facilities, she added.
'Post-covid era'
AstraZeneca became known during the Covid-19 pandemic, when it developed one of the first vaccines against the disease in collaboration with the University of Oxford. The drug, known as Vaxzevria, will be withdrawn from the market, given declining demand and the emergence of other injections that are tailored to specific Covid variants.
“For us, without a doubt, this is the post-Covid era,” Sarin told CNBC. “We provided vaccines during the Covid pandemic more because, you know, it was a public health crisis. It was really none of our business to be on Covid vaccines.”
Historically, AstraZeneca's business has focused on areas such as oncology and cardiovascular health, and this will continue to be the company's focus going forward, Sarin said. Drugs for diabetes and metabolic diseases will also play a role in AstraZeneca's development, she said.
“We are also looking at some weight management medications, potentially combining them with medications that help with comorbidities that many patients with weight management issues have,” he said.
Last year, AstraZeneca signed a deal with Shanghai-based pharmaceutical company Eccogene for a cardiometabolic and weight-loss drug, entering the race for weight-management drugs that is currently largely dominated by Wegovy and Ozempic from Novo Nordisk, as well as by Eli LillyIt's Mounjaro.
But supply constraints could mean that competitors such as Pfizer and Amgen could play a larger role in the market this year.
