AZ upbeat about future prospects

AstraZeneca has issued an upbeat statement about its pipeline and said it was well positioned to compete in the US marketplace, where the demand for new, innovative medicines continues to be strong

The company's executives reported at its Annual Business Review that its cholesterol lowering drug, Crestor, won more than 2% of the statin market since its US launch on September 15, with 25,000 new prescriptions so far.

AZ also revealed that its lung cancer drug Iressa was being used by an estimated 10,000 patients in the US with current ex-factory US sales averaging $3m/week. The drug is going through the regulatory process in Europe at the moment.

Fuelled by fears of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and an aging population, the anti-coagulant market is currently worth about $11bn, and increasing at a rate of 14% per year. Hamish Cameron, vp head of Exanta, highlighted the risk/benefit data from Exanta studies, the first new anticoagulant pill in 50 years, which confirmed efficacy equivalent to warfarin, the current standard, with a profile based on fixed dosing; no coagulation monitoring; low potential of food/drug interactions and acceptable bleeding.

AZ hopes to seek regulatory approval for the drug, to be used in major indications of stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation and treatment of long-term prevention of venous thromboembolism, in the final three months of this year.

The company also has 21 NCEs in pre-clinical testing and has seen a strong movement of NCE projects into Phase I and II since last year's ABR.

Martin Nicklasson, executive vice resident, development said: 'Major regulatory approvals have transformed AstraZeneca's product portfolio in 2003. With the emphasis on productivity and quality, we have added several new candidate drugs to the r&d pipeline in the last 12 months, made rapid progress with our early phase portfolio and progressed major new treatment indications for existing products.'

Sir Tom McKillop, chief executive quipped: 'AstraZeneca is set to deliver top-tier financial performance. In addition, productivity improvements in r&d are delivering a flow of new product opportunities, which together with growth in many markets, will form the basis of sustained long-term performance.'

The company said that the FDA has approved Zomig (zolmitriptan) Nasal Spray for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults. The product's approval will boost AZ's presence in the market, which is expected to double by 2012 to $5.6bn.