A box containing vials of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is photographed at the Foch hospital in Suresnes on 6 February 2021, at the beginning of a vaccination campaign for healthcare professionals with the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine.
Alain Jocard | AFP | Getty Images
AstraZeneca reported a 10% increase in product sales in 2020, a year in which the pharmaceutical company stood out for its work on developing a coronavirus vaccine, alongside the University of Oxford.
The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant reported product sales totaling $ 25.8 billion in 2020. In the fourth quarter, sales increased 12%, to just over $ 7 billion – for the first time in “many years” the company topped this number. Total revenue reached US $ 26.6 billion in the year and US $ 7.4 billion in the fourth quarter.
The company’s profits come as the company remains in the spotlight for its coronavirus vaccine, which is being heavily used by the UK, EU and others, as they try to end the public health crisis caused by the pandemic.
AstraZeneca said it will provide access to its vaccine without profit during the “duration of the pandemic”, although the timing is uncertain. It has also pledged to provide the non-profit vaccine in perpetuity to low- and middle-income countries. As such, your current earnings do not include sales of the vaccine.
The guidance for the year ahead of the company, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, said it expects revenue growth for a “low percentage of teenagers” in 2021 and faster growth in basic earnings per share to $ 4 , 75 to $ 5.00.
The guidance does not incorporate any revenue or profit impacts from sales of the Covid-19 vaccine, he said, and the company plans to report those sales separately starting next quarter.
In the results report, AstraZeneca’s CEO, Pascal Soriot, said last year’s performance “marked a significant step for AstraZeneca. Despite the significant impact of the pandemic, we achieved double-digit revenue growth”.
“The consistent achievements underway, the accelerated performance of our businesses and the progress of the COVID-19 vaccine have demonstrated what we can achieve,” he added.
The company said its dividends for the entire year would remain unchanged at $ 2.80 per share.
Some controversy
The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, was hailed as a game changer, along with candidates from other pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and BioNTech, and Moderna.
Although clinical tests have shown that the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine had a lower efficacy rate than its rivals, the fact that it was cheaper and easier to store and transport proved to be a blessing for countries like the United Kingdom, where it was launched since January. The rapid launch of vaccines is seen as crucial to the reopening of economies severely hampered by blockages and job losses.
The company did face some controversy over its vaccine, however.
Some drug regulators in Europe have said they would not recommend the vaccine for people over 65 – the target age group as implementations gain strength – due to an alleged lack of data to show its effectiveness in that age group.
In the meantime, South Africa has suspended, and then abandoned, the use of the vaccine at its launch amid concerns that it had limited effectiveness against a variant of the virus that had emerged there.
However, independent experts who advised the World Health Organization on immunization on Wednesday recommended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, even in countries where variants exist.
Early in the process, the results of the final stage clinical trials that highlighted a higher rate of effectiveness after a dosing error caused distrust among experts, as well as doubts about the results and the recommended dosing regimen (as with most vaccines) against coronavirus being launched today, it’s a two-dose dose).
AstraZeneca also clashed with the EU when it said it would not deliver as many vaccines as expected to the bloc in the spring, blaming the initial problems at its factories in Belgium and the Netherlands.