AstraZeneca (AZN) has long been in the oncology and other disease sectors, but has surged in popularity in recent years thanks to the success of its COVID-19 vaccine.
The company has since withdrawn the vaccine due to low demand and after rare side effects were reported, but is once again an investor favorite after sharing recent data on its cancer drugs.
One of the best performing lung cancer drugs, Tagrisso, first approved in 2017, has proven that it can reduce the risk of disease progression by 84% in patients with a type of stage 3 lung cancer. These results earned a standing ovation from attendees at the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago. The company also unveiled a CAR-T therapy candidate – an immunotherapy created from a person’s own immune system to fight cancer – that could reduce tumors in liver cancer patients. The company is also working on a new treatment for breast cancer.
All this means the company is gearing up for several launches and label expansions – and new revenue streams. AstraZeneca has set itself the goal of achieving a turnover of $80 billion by 2030. In 2023, the company posted revenues of $45.8 billion.
CFO Aradhana Sarin said she is now focusing on executing on the launch of the products after the data is revealed.
“We’ve come a long way in our oncology portfolio, but we’ve also come a long way when you see the depth of the portfolio,” Sarin told Yahoo Finance at Goldman Sachs’ annual healthcare conference in Miami Beach. Sarin added that the company is not done yet and that more data will emerge in the next 18 months.
Over the past six months, the company’s shares have risen nearly 20% and were trading at $79 per share on Thursday.
Sarin said the company will achieve its revenue target not by relying on one or two blockbusters. It’s the story the company told at its investor day in May, where stakeholders initially felt confused about the wide variety of products the company was highlighting.
“For us, in terms of communications, it’s a balancing act between making it simple enough for people to digest, but also emphasizing that it’s not one or two products that make or break this company. It’s a tremendous breadth and depth of product.’ said Sarin.
She added: “My role is to make sure we have good data and good analysis to support the decisions we discuss and debate” so we can make the right choices.
Anjalee Khemlani is the senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharmaceutical, insurance, healthcare services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and politics. Follow Anjalee on all social media platforms @AnjKhem.
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