07.24.17
Headquarters: London, UK
twitter.com/astrazeneca
www.astrazeneca.com
Headcount: 59,700
Year Established: 1999
Revenues: $23,002 (-7%)
Net Income: $3,406 (+21%)
R&D: $5,890 (-2%)
TOP SELLING DRUGS
Drug | Indication | 2016 Sales | (+/-%) |
Crestor | cholesterol | $3,401 | -32% |
Symbicort | asthma | $2,989 | -12% |
Nexium | acid reflux | $2,032 | -19% |
Pulmicort | asthma | $1,061 | 5% |
Brilinta | antiplatelet | $839 | 36% |
Farxiga | type 2 diabetes | $835 | 70% |
Faslodex | breast cancer | $830 | 18% |
Zoladex | cancer | $816 | 0% |
Seloken/Toprol-XL | hypertention | $737 | 4% |
Seroquel XR | anti-psychotic | $735 | -28% |
AstraZeneca rounded out this year’s top ten pharma companies with $23 billion of revenues in 2016. While this is a 5% drop from the previous year, moving forward the company has classified several products and regions as a part of its growth platforms—Respiratory and Diabetes products, Brilinta/Brilique, and the regional sales from emerging markets and Japan. The company also added a new Oncology franchise for the first time to the growth platforms, with its new oncology products, Tagrisso and Lynparza.
Overall, the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases segment is AstraZeneca’s highest revenue-contributing segment, with about 38% contribution of total product sales. Revenues fell 13% to $8.1 billion in 2016 due to the decrease in its Crestor sales following patent expiry and a generic entry in the U.S. Sales of Onglyza in the U.S. declined 10% to $376 million, as the company prioritized Farxiga. A highlight for the segment was the performance of new growth products Brilinta/Brilique whose revenues rose 39% to $839 million during 2016.
The Respiratory segment’s revenues fell 3% to $4.8 billion during 2016, with lower sales of Symbicort and Tudorza/Eklira. This decrease was partially offset by increased revenues of drugs including Pulmicort, Duaklir, and Daliresp. Pulmicort sales of $1 billion were up 5%.
The Oncology segment, which as mentioned above, is now included in the growth platform, includes new products Tagrisso and Lynparza that are expected to drive this segment’s growth in coming years. The segment’s revenues rose 16% to $3.4 billion during 2016, following a strong performance of Tagrisso, Lynparza, Zoladex, and Faslodex. The segment’s revenues were partially offset by lower sales of Iressa and legacy products such as Casodex and Arimidex. Lynparza reported sales of $218 million and was available in 31 countries by end 2016. Iressa sales of $513 million were down 6% as the company prioritized Tagrisso.
The Other segment includes drugs from the Infection, Neuroscience, and Gastrointestinal franchises. This is AstraZeneca’s second-largest revenue contributor, comprising 24% of the company’s total product sales for 2016, which fell 19% during the year. Nexium sales of $2 billion were down 19% and Seroquel XR sales of $735 million were down 28% following loss of exclusivity.
Feeding the pipeline
During the year AstraZeneca, along with its global biologics research and development arm, MedImmune, and Moderna Therapeutics formed a new collaboration to discover, co-develop and co-commercialize messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutic candidates for the treatment of a range of cancers. The collaboration is in addition to the agreement announced by the companies in 2013 to develop mRNA Therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular, metabolic and renal diseases as well as selected targets in oncology. The collaboration combines MedImmune’s protein engineering and cancer biology expertise with Moderna’s mRNA platform. mRNA-based therapies are an innovative treatment approach that enables the body to produce therapeutic protein in vivo, opening up new treatment options for a wide range of diseases that, according to the company, cannot be addressed using existing technologies.
AstraZeneca and Moderna have agreed to collaborate on two specific immuno-oncology programs, based on promising preclinical data, including pharmacology in tumor models. Moderna will fund and be responsible for discovery and preclinical development of product candidates, with the aim of delivering one investigational new drug (IND) application-ready molecule for each of the two programs.
Also during the year, Allergan entered into a global agreement with AstraZeneca to develop and commercialize ATM-AVI, an investigational, fixed-dose antibiotic combining aztreonam and avibactam. The companies will evaluate the combination to treat serious infections caused by metallo βlactamase MBL-producing Gram-negative pathogens, a difficult-to-treat sub-type of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), for which there are limited treatments. Allergan will maintain commercialization rights in the U.S. and Canada and AstraZeneca will have commercialization rights in all other countries.
ATM-AVI is the first drug candidate to be developed under a public-private partnership agreement between AstraZeneca and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). The goal of this strategic alliance is to develop a portfolio of drug candidates over the next five years with dual uses in treating illnesses caused by bioterrorism agents and antibiotic-resistant infections.
LEO Pharma formed an agreement with AstraZeneca to acquire the global license to tralokinumab in skin diseases and the exclusive license to brodalumab in Europe. Tralokinumab, an anti-IL-13 monoclonal antibody, has completed a Phase IIb study for the treatment of patients with atopic dermatitis. Brodalumab is an IL-17 receptor monoclonal antibody under regulatory review for patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. AstraZeneca received $115 million upfront and is eligible to receive as much as $1 billion in commercial-related milestones and a percentage of royalties on sales. AstraZeneca will manufacture and supply tralokinumab to LEO Pharma and will retain all rights to tralokinumab in respiratory disease and any other indications outside of dermatology.
Eli Lilly and Co. and AstraZeneca entered a worldwide agreement to co-develop MEDI1814, an antibody selective for amyloid-beta 42 (Aβ42) as a potential disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. This agreement expands the collaboration related to AZD3293, a BACE inhibitor in Phase III development.
AstraZeneca and Incyte Corporation formed a collaboration to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Incyte’s Janus-associated kinase (JAK) 1 inhibitor, INCB39110, in combination with AstraZeneca’s next generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, Tagrisso (osimertinib). The combination will be assessed as a second line treatment for patients with EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), who have been treated with a first generation EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) and subsequently developed the T790M resistance mutation.