vaccine manufacturer
Pharmaceutical group Astrazeneca makes a big increase in sales
For Astrazeneca, 2021 was probably the most turbulent year in the company’s history. For months, the company’s coronavirus vaccine has been the focus of debate and controversy. But financially it was worth it.
Despite a month-long sale at cost price, the pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca has benefited greatly from its corona vaccine.
The sales of the British-Swedish company rose significantly by 41 percent to around 37.4 billion US dollars (32.7 billion euros) in 2021, as Astrazeneca announced on Thursday in Cambridge. The main driver was the corona vaccine, which contributed almost four billion dollars. However, that was significantly less than the competitor Pfizer took thanks to the drug developed together with Biontech.
2021 was a turbulent year for Astrazeneca. The group got caught up in a Brexit dispute between London and Brussels over the right course of action in the pandemic. While the company was repeatedly the target of criticism and ridicule in Europe and the EU spoke of breach of contract, the British government praised the group as the savior of the country. More than 2.5 billion doses of the Vaxzevria vaccine have been distributed worldwide. Especially at the beginning, the impression was given that the company was overwhelmed by its sudden popularity.
Despite numerous studies and public assurances from EU politicians that Vaxzevria was effective and harmless, the drug in Germany quickly got the reputation of being inferior to the vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer. Given the choice, most opted for Biontech or the drug from the US group Moderna.
AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot and scientists from the University of Oxford who were involved in the development of the vaccine were repeatedly amazed at the mistrust that the vaccine was opposed to. Only recently, the Oxford researcher John Bell, who helped develop Vaxzevria, accused politicians and scientists outside Great Britain of damaging the company’s reputation and possibly having hundreds of thousands of dead on their conscience.
The picture in Great Britain is very different: in several cases, people only wanted to be vaccinated with the “British agent” from Astrazeneca. Vaxzevria is the most widely injected drug in the kingdom for primary and secondary vaccinations. But the situation is different with the booster. Here Astrazeneca played practically no role.
In 2022, the corona vaccine should also bring income
In the meantime, the group also wants to make money with the vaccine. In November, boss Soriot announced several for-profit agreements had been signed for 2022. There will be tiered pricing to ensure the vaccine remains affordable. “Moderate” yields are expected. Competitors Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna have been making profits with their vaccines from the start. The vaccine Comirnaty 2021 flushed almost 37 billion dollars into the coffers of Viagra manufacturer Pfizer. Nevertheless, the Cambridge company came under criticism, with the globalization-critical organization Oxfam accusing Astrazeneca of breaking its promises.
Astrazeneca Vice President Iskra Reic was confident that there would still be demand in 2022. However, the importance of the vaccine for the group result will decrease, as Astrazeneca has now announced. Covid-related sales would fall by 20 to 25 percent. On the one hand, this is because in countries where more money can be charged for vaccines, the vaccination rate is high and the markets are occupied. On the other hand, CEO Soriot emphasized in November: “The virus is becoming endemic, which means that we have to learn to live with it.”
Alexion acquisition to ensure long-term growth
This is one of the reasons why the group is positioning itself more broadly and focusing primarily on fighting rare diseases. To this end, the group bought the US biotechnology company Alexion for a whopping 39 billion US dollars. Astrazeneca is hoping for a further boost from the acquisition. In addition, blockbusters such as the cancer drugs Tagrisso, Imfinzi and Lynparza increased compared to the previous year. However, due to the takeover, the group surplus fell significantly. Bottom line, 2021 earnings were $112 million, after Astrazeneca generated about $3.2 billion the previous year.
Thanks to the billion-dollar Alexion takeover, CEO Soriot was confident about long-term growth. Astrazeneca is increasing its dividend for the first time in a decade. There should already be $2.87 per share for 2021, after $2.80 in the previous year. After that, the payout is expected to rise to $2.90.