"Significant step forward" for vaccine creator AstraZeneca as revenues climb nearly 10%

The British pharmaceutical company behind a coronavirus vaccine has announced that its revenue has increased by nearly 10 per cent over the past year.

AstraZeneca, which received authorisation for the emergency distribution of its Covid-19 vaccine in December last year, has reported that revenues in 2020 grew by 9 per cent to $26,617m.

The company reported that new medicines accounted for 52 per cent of its total revenue, compared to 43 per cent in 2019.

As of yesterday, (February 10), AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine has been recommended by the World Health Organisation for use in all adults.

The pharmaceutical firm is also working on trials of a new antibody therapy for the prevention and treatment of the virus.

Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca, commented: “The performance last year marked a significant step forward for AstraZeneca.

“Despite the significant impact from the pandemic, we delivered double-digit revenue growth to leverage improved profitability and cash generation.

“The consistent achievements in the pipeline, the accelerating performance of our business and the progress of the Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated what we can achieve, while the proposed acquisition of Alexion is intended to accelerate our scientific and commercial evolution even further.

“Additional investment in new medicines continued to fuel our rapidly growing oncology and biopharmaceuticals therapy areas.

“Thanks to the focus on an industry-leading pipeline and consistent execution, I am confident that we will continue to deliver more progress for patients and sustained, compelling results.”