The pharmaceutical giant astrazeneca recorded a drop in its net profit in the first quarter of 2022 due to rising costs and a one-time charge related to the expensive acquisition of Alexion, but its revenues skyrocketed.
2022 started well for AstraZeneca,” said Pascal Soriot, its CEO, in a statement released this Friday.
The group’s net profit fell 75% to $386 million, but its turnover rose 56% to $11.39 billion, according to the statement.
The result is weighed down by a heavy legal charge of 775 million dollars related to a settlement agreement with Chugai Pharmaceutical.
Oncology sales rose 25%, while rare disease treatments, the specialty of Alexion, its $39 billion acquired subsidiary, rose 7%.
The CEO underlines that the diabetes drug Farxiga “reached $1 billion in revenue this quarter” and that oncology sales grew strongly even as the persistence of Covid-19 slows diagnosis and cancer treatment.
The group also unveiled a new research and development laboratory project “at the Science Center” in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Astrazeneca also reports that the turnover from sales of medicines derived from the covid-19 pandemic should drop between 20 and 25% this year.
erp