'Robust' year for AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca has held a meeting with analysts in London, UK, where itclaimed that its "business performance over the past year has been robust," and will deliver expected year-end targets. The company said that investments made in sales and marketing have paid dividends, with the successful launches of the follow-on antiulcerant to Losec/Prilosec (omeprazole), Nexium (esomeprazole), and the asthma drug Symbicort (budesonide and formoterol), and noted continued growth of key products such as the cancer drugs Casodex (bicalutamide) and Arimidex (anastrozole), the antihypertensive Atacand (candesartan cilexetil), the antipsychotic Seroquel (quetiapine) and the antimigraine drug Zomig (zolmitriptan).

Bruno Angelici, executive vice president of international sales and marketing, noted that, in Japan, AstraZeneca is now the second fastest-growing drugmaker, behind Pfizer, driven by its strong oncology position (where it is competing with Taiho for the number one slot), and strong sales of Losec, sold in Japan as Omepral.

AstraZeneca noted that it has increased its sales force in the top eight countries in Europe by more than 800 permanent representatives, which will focus on markets "that demonstrate significant potential for the company," including the fixed combination asthma, lung cancer and statin markets. Mr Angelici added that AstraZeneca's gastrointestinal franchise will remain strong, despite Losec losing market exclusivity, noting that: "we also have a rich pipeline (see pages 24-25) waiting to be launched in markets where we have built up significant marketing and sales muscle." With this combination of competitive resources and assets, "we feel confident we can drive the business forward for many years to come," he said.