Thu, July 30, 2020 | 07:15 pm
AstraZeneca says COVID-19 vaccine may very well be permitted by the top of this year
Britain’s AstraZeneca stated on Thursday that good knowledge was coming in to this point on its vaccine for COVID-19, already in large-scale human trials and extensively seen because the front-runner within the race for a shot in opposition to the novel coronavirus.
The drugmaker, Britain’s most dear listed firm, additionally introduced second quarter outcomes that beat its gross sales and revenue estimates, due to robust gross sales from a various product line-up.
“The vaccine development is progressing well. We have had good data so far. We need to show the efficacy in the clinical programme, but so far, so good,” Chief Executive Pascal Soriot stated on a media name.
AstraZeneca has already reached offers with international locations to make greater than 2 billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, developed in partnership with the University of Oxford, and says it may very well be permitted by the top of this yr.
The firm has had a busy few months: it took on growth of the COVID-19 shot, acquired billions in authorities funding, signed a number of provide offers, and was even the topic of a mega-merger hypothesis – all whereas marching on with its core enterprise.
It stuck by its 2020 outlook on Thursday, and its shares were up about 3% at 88.6 pounds after product sales of $6.05 billion in the three months to June surpassed consensus of $6.01 billion. The figure excludes payments from tie-ups.
Newer drugs for diabetes, heart conditions and cancer, including its top selling lung cancer drug Tagrisso, performed well in the quarter and AstraZeneca remains on track for a third consecutive year of growth.
Among drugs with better-than-expected revenues, sales of respiratory drug Symbicort rose 12% to $653 million, about $90 million above consensus, while revenue from cancer drug Lynparza jumped 62% to $554 million.
There are no approved vaccines for the illness caused by the new virus, but AstraZeneca’s shot is widely considered the leading candidate after results from early-stage human trials showed it was safe and produced an immune response.
Core earnings of 96 cents per share beat analysts’ expectation of 93 cents. Total revenue rose 11%.