AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) reported a drop in fourth quarter sales on Thursday, following the loss of a crucial drug patent protection in the US.
The British-Swedish company saw sales in its cholesterol treatment drug Crestor fall 52 percent to $691 million, after the drug loss rights to patent protection in the U.S. However, AstraZeneca assured that Crestor was the final of its drug brands to lose its patent.
Chief Executive Pascal Soriot remained optimistic, stating that the results remained “in line with expectations”.
“Our underlying business is growing as a new AstraZeneca emerges, driven by competitive franchises and emerging markets,” he continued.
“2017 has the potential to be a turning point for our company as we near the end of our patent-expiry period and bring new medicines to patients across the globe. We anticipate defining data, in particular from our outstanding pipeline of immuno-oncology and targeted treatments.
“This year we have the opportunity to launch several life-changing medicines for cancer, respiratory and metabolic diseases. It is an exciting time as we rapidly approach the inflection point for our anticipated return to long-term growth, built on the solid foundations of a science-led pipeline.”
The drug producer has been refocusing funds into developing cancer treatments. Sales of cancer drugs for the company rose by 30 percent to total $930 million in revenue during the fourth quarter, in part due to its introduction of the lung cancer treatment Tagrisso.
Whilst its investments in cancer were met with strong sales in its treatments, annual revenue fell by 7 percent in the 12 months to December. Nevertheless, pre-tax profit increased by 15.7 percent.
Analysts were underwhelmed by the figures, as pressure mounts on the company to continue to drive down the cost of production. Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Nicholas Hyatt commented:
“Rarely are full year results as unimportant to investors as AstraZeneca’s are today,” he said.
“Earnings and revenues continue to decline in 2016, a trend Astra expects to continue into next year, with low quality revenues making a bigger contribution this year than last.”
Last year, US drug giant Pfizer was handed a record fine by The Competition and Market Authority for raising prices to “extraordinary levels”. US President Trump has been openly critical of rising prices in the pharmaceutical industry, putting pressure on companies such as AstraZeneca to continue to drive down prices.
AstraZeneca shares are down 0.01 percent as of 03.26PM (GMT).