AstraZeneca announces fourth-quarter and full-year results

AstraZeneca has recorded a 29% rise in operating profit for the fourth-quarter of 2005 and a 43% increase for the year, attaining totals of $1.6bn and $6.5bn respectively.

Fourth-quarter sales totalled $6.3bn, marking an 8% rise on the $5.8bn attained in 2004, and full-year sales reached almost $24.0bn ($23.95bn), representing a 12% rise on 2004's $21.4bn. This comprised $10.8bn in the US for the year and $2.9bn for the quarter; $8.5bn in Europe for the year and $2.1bn for the quarter; $1.5bn in Japan for the year and $424m for the quarter, and $3.2bn in the rest of the world for the year and $866m for the quarter.

The company now has 10 blockbuster drugs (annual sales surpassing $1.0bn), the most notable of which are Nexium, used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease and stomach ulcers, whose sales rose 18% to a total of $4.6bn for the year; dyslipidaemia treatment Crestor, which increased 38% to $1.3bn; Arimidex, an oral aromatose inhibitor for the treatment of advanced breast cancer, which jumped 44% to $1.2bn, and the antipsychotic medicine Seroquel, which rose 35% to $2.8bn.

However, a blockbuster which is notable for other reasons is Toprol XL (metoprolol succinate), the company's best-selling cardiovascular drug which lost its patent protection in the US on 17 January. The drug generated $1.7bn last year, marking a 24% increase on the $1.4bn it reined in in 2004. Its sales for the fourth-quarter were $455m, equating to a 19% rise on the $381m it made in 2004, but with the door now open for generic versions, its sales could plummet in 2006.

Such a feeling was evident on the stock market, where AZ shares fell 1.3% to £26.98 following announcement of the results.

Earnings per share (EPS) for 2005 rose to $2.91 from $2.01, and the company said that it is expecting EPS in the area of $3.40 to $3.60 in 2006; 45 cents of which is related to Toprol XL.

r&d totalled $3.4bn for the year, marking around a 3% drop on the $3.5bn spent in 2004. It also fell 3% for the quarter, dropping from $899m to $873m.

The r&d pipeline includes a pMDI (pressurized metered dose inhaler) formulation of Symbicort for the fixed dose treatment of asthma, which is currently undertaking FDA review and phase III COPD studies, and a sustained release formulation of Seroquel. New data on Crestor is also expected in the first half of 2006, which will look at its effect on the regression of coronary artery atheroma, while Exanta, an oral anticoagulant for the treatment and prevention of blood clots that is available in Europe, looks unlikely to ever reach the US market.