AstraZeneca keeps outlook as cancer drug sales lift quarterly profit to $2.5 billion

AstraZeneca said its second-quarter net profit rose more than 2% to $2.5 billion, helped by strong sales of cancer drugs, and reconfirmed its outlook for the full year.

The British pharmaceutical company said total revenue increased 6% to $15.4 billion in the three months to the end of June, supported by demand for cancer and rare disease medicines. AFP reported that the profit figure beat analyst expectations.

Chief executive Pascal Soriot said AstraZeneca was “on track” to reach its ambition of $80 billion in total revenue by 2030, despite an unexpected late-stage trial failure earlier in July.

Shares had fallen in early July after Wainua, a new heart disease drug, failed to meet targets. Soriot said the company remained confident in its pipeline and had more than 20 high-value readouts due over the next 18 months.

AstraZeneca is also investing in a weight-loss drug. The source said trial results last month showed its new pill appeared to help people lose a similar amount of weight to other GLP-1 oral drugs, though further research would be needed to confirm the findings.