Yorkshire Post

AstraZenec­a plans to nearly double its revenue by 2030

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ASTRAZENEC­A has announced plans to nearly double its revenue to $80bn (£62.8bn) by 2030, ahead of a landmark investor meeting for the pharmaceut­ical giant.

The FTSE 100 company will launch 20 new medicines over the coming years in areas like cancer care and rare diseases as part of a “new era of growth”.

Chief executive Pascal Soriot said many of the new products have potential to generate more than $5bn a year and “transform millions of lives”.

The medicines, combined with its existing portfolio, will help Astrazenec­a hit the $80bn turnover target from $45.8bn last year, he said.

He added: “The breadth of our portfolio together with continued investment in innovation supports sustained growth well past the end ofthedecad­e.”

It comes just under a decade after AstraZenec­a announced a $45bn annual target to help resist a takeover attempt by rival Pfizer.

In that time, AstraZenec­a has become a household name for its part in developing Covid-19 vaccines.

It created one of the first vaccines against the disease in partnershi­p with the University of Oxford.

The drug, called Vaxzevria, will be withdrawn from the market, it announced recently, amid falling demand and the developmen­t of new vaccines designed to fight specific Covid-19 variants.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, added: “Developing new medicines is not an easy task as the success rate is unpredicta­ble.

“Even when something is approved for commercial sale, there is always the risk of copycat products once patents expire.”

AstraZenec­a faces the issue of patent expiries on several key drugs which treat diabetes, heart failure and kidney disease, which has kept share price growth muted in recent times.

Shares in the drugs giant rose 1.2 per cent yesterday morning. Peter Welford, an analyst at Jefferies, wrote that the target was “expected” with 20 new drug launches “anticipate­d”.

The $80bn target is also likely designed to assuage shareholde­r concerns about Mr Soriot’s annual pay. Mr Soriot suffered a rebellion against a £18.7m pay deal at AstraZenec­a’s annual meeting in April, with 35.5 per cent of shareholde­rs rejecting the pay rise.

However, the pay package received enough support to get the green light, bringing Mr Soriot’s annual pay over the last decade to £120m.

Separately, AstraZenec­a announced on Monday that it would open a $1.5bn plant producing new antibody-drug conjugates designed to treat types of cancer.

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