The pharmaceutical giant Astrazeneca published a sharp drop in net profit in the first quarter on Friday, in particular because of an exceptional legal charge linked to the acquisition of Alexion, but its sales jumped.
The group also forecasts a drop in its sales of anti-Covid vaccines in the coming months as the danger of the pandemic is considered to be in decline in many countries, he warned, in the wake of what he had already announced in February.
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The group's overall revenue rose 56% year on year to $11.39 billion in the first quarter, beating analysts' expectations.
It is particularly driven by oncology and covid-related drugs.
The merger with Alexion, whose acquisition for 39 billion dollars was finalized in July, induces a charge of 775 million dollars in the quarter related to the settlement of a legal dispute with this new subsidiary of Astrazeneca.
But the operation is also beginning to bear fruit: sales related to treatments for rare diseases, which is Alexion's specialty, increased by 7% over the period.
Sales of the anti-Covid vaccine Vaxzevria, which was one of the first on the market with that of Pfizer, and which Astrazeneca had put on the market at cost price, increased over the past quarter, reaching 1.145 billion dollars.
Sales of its preventive antibody-based drug Evusheld also rose to $469 million.
But the group stresses that turnover from sales of drugs linked to the Covid-19 pandemic should drop by 20 to 25% over the rest of the year.
As “the threat of Covid-19 recedes, we anticipate a decline in vaccine-related revenues,” Chief Executive Pascal Soriot warned during an online press conference.
“In many countries we are entering what can be called a normalization phase and we must learn to live with the disease, to manage it with vaccines and treatments”, he continues.
He notes that in the future vaccination campaigns will decrease and focus on reminders which will not be carried out by all, like the prevention campaigns against the flu.
“We have provided 2.9 billion doses of vaccine (anti-covid) in the world” in total, underlines Pascal Soriot.
Developed countries now favor mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer's, and AstraZeneca's serum is now mainly redirected to the international Covax program, intended for poor countries.
In particular, the United Kingdom has chosen other vaccines for its booster doses.
The world's biggest vaccine maker, the India-based Serum Institute of India, recently announced it was halting production of Covid vaccines, licensed to AstraZeneca, after domestic and global demand slumped.
If the group had announced a few months ago that it would now take profits on the serum, it will however be a small profit.
By comparison, Pfizer has projected making about $32 billion this year from sales of its messenger RNA vaccine, co-developed with BioNTech.
The decline in sales of Vaxzevria will be partially offset by those of Evusheld, the group projects, but the gross margin of drugs against Covid will lag behind the average of the rest of the group.
Growth in turnover
Total company net profit fell 75% to $386 million in the first quarter.
A charge of $775 million relates to a settlement agreement with Chugai Pharmaceutical of a dispute inherited from Alexion.
Higher research and development spending also contributed to lower profits this quarter, notes Laura Hoy of Hargreaves Lansdown.
On the forecast side, the group expects a marked increase in turnover and earnings per share over the rest of the year, even if operating expenses excluding exceptional items should continue to increase with the integration of Alexion.
Astrazeneca shares were down 0.11% at 10,550.00 pence mid-trade in a slightly higher market.
