Efzimfotase alfa

Sales of AstraZeneca's cancer drugs jumped 20% in the first quarter to $6.8 billion, making up 45% of the company's overall revenue, which increased 13% to $15.3 billion. The results — announced Wednesday — also included a 5% uptick in profit to $3.1 billion, prompting the drugmaker to reiterate its outlook for the year."We delivered strong growth in Q1…demonstrating our consistent commercial execution," said CEO Pascal Soriot. For the current year, AstraZeneca continues to forecast a mid-to-high, single-digit percentage increase in revenue, with core earnings per share growing by a low-double-digit percentage.Pipeline blipsHowever, as AstraZeneca advances through its catalyst‑rich period, focus remains very much on its late-stage pipeline, which has delivered a number of positive readouts so far this year, including for the enzyme replacement therapy efzimfotase alfa in hypophosphatasia and the IL-33 inhibitor tozorakimab in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)On Wednesday, the drugmaker disclosed that a long-term extension study of tozorakimab, dubbed PROSPERO, missed its primary endpoint. AstraZeneca said that while tozorakimab resulted in a numerical reduction in the annualised rate of severe exacerbations in former smokers, this was not statistically significant, while in the overall population of former and current smokers, the therapy showed a nominally significant reduction.AstraZeneca is banking on its late-stage pipeline to succeed as it chases its target of growing annual revenue to $80 billion by 2030. Despite the setback, Morgan Stanley analysts suggested that the outcome will not have a "meaningful impact" on its peak sales guidance for the drug of around $6 billion.The company also disclosed that the Phase III SAMETA study of the PD-L1 inhibitor Imfinzi (durvalumab) plus HUTCHMED's MET inhibitor Orpathys (savolitinib) in first-line papillary renal cell carcinoma failed to meet its primary endpoint of progression-free survival versus Pfizer's Sutent (sunitinib). Another setback was revealed for Ultomiris (ravulizumab), with the late-stage ARTEMIS trial evaluating the long-acting C5 complement inhibitor in cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury in adults with chronic kidney disease who undergo non-emergent cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass being stopped due to "inconsistent efficacy" at a planned interim analysis.More to come.

Shanghai,China-August 24th 2025: AstraZeneca company office building iStock, Robert Way After a quarter in which sales topped $15 billion and key readouts went AstraZeneca’s way, the company is increasingly confident that its 2030 revenue target is in reach. AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot has talked up the prospect of the company hitting its $80 billion revenue target in 2030 after a quarter in which sales beat expectations and the pipeline delivered key wins. The drugmaker reported sales of $15.3 billion in the first quarter, easing past the $14.7 billion consensus estimate of analysts that Guggenheim Securities shared in a note last month. AstraZeneca’s 8% revenue growth on a constant exchange rate (CER) was driven by its oncology and rare disease units, which grew 16% and 15%, respectively. In oncology, the HER2-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) Enhertu ($831 million) and checkpoint inhibitor Imfinzi ($1.69 billion) led the way, achieving sales growth of 34% and 30%, respectively, on a CER. Double-digit revenue growth for the blockbuster complement inhibitor Ultomiris, enzyme replacement therapy Strensiq and kinase inhibitor Koselugo enabled the rare disease unit to weather sliding sales of Soliris. This unit combined for $2.4 billion, led by Ultomiris with $1.27 billion. The products that powered AstraZeneca to a $15 billion quarter were already on the market when Soriot set the 2030 sales target in 2024. AstraZeneca is looking to assets that are new or close to the market to help push sales beyond its $80 billion goal. Datroway, which the FDA approved last year, generated $43 million in the first quarter, primarily through revenue from AstraZeneca’s alliance with Daiichi Sankyo on the ADC. Guggenheim analysts had forecasted $7 million in alliance sales for the first quarter, and last month tipped the TROP2-directed ADC to become a blockbuster in 2030. Other molecules are nearing approval. AstraZeneca said readouts from Phase 3 trials of tozorakimab in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and efzimfotase alfa in hypophosphatasia, plus data from studies that could expand the labels of Imfinzi, Imjudo and Ultomiris, reinforced the pharma’s confidence in its 2030 sales target. Growing sales to $80 billion by 2030 looked ambitious when AstraZeneca set the goal in 2024. At that time, the analyst consensus was that the company would report revenue of around $66.8 billion in 2030, reflecting questions about whether its next wave of drug candidates could offset the loss of exclusivity on Farxiga and Lynparza and drive sales to a new high. Analysts had become more comfortable with the target even before AstraZeneca shared first-quarter results. The consensus had reached $80 billion by December 2025, according to a note Guggenheim analysts sent to investors that month. Guggenheim analysts were more skeptical, forecasting sales of $76.4 billion, but have been won over by AstraZeneca’s progress. The analysts raised their forecast to $78.7 billion in March and increased it to $79.6 billion this month in response to the tozorakimab data. However, while three Phase 3 tozorakimab trials hit their goals, AstraZeneca reported Wednesday that the molecule failed to significantly reduce the annualized rate of severe exacerbations in former smokers in a long-term extension study, missing the primary endpoint. AstraZeneca plans to present the data at a medical meeting and share it with regulators.