Under CEO Pascal Soriot, Astra has become a cancer-drug powerhouse and the second-largest company on the London Stock Exchange but it has to contend with losing patent protection on one of its best-sellers, the diabetes medicine Farxiga.
(Feb 10): AstraZeneca plc expects profit to grow further this year, boosted by sales of its cancer drugs as it works to offset a patent expiry of a blockbuster diabetes medicine.
Earnings per share, excluding some items, are expected to rise by a low double-digit percentage, the UK drugmaker said Tuesday (Feb 10). That’s in line with what analysts anticipated. Astra also reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue that roughly met estimates.
