AstraZeneca raised its sales and profit outlook for the year thanks to strong demand for its cancer drugs and announced a deal to develop an obesity drug that could be given in tablet form rather than as injections.
The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker reported a 6 per cent increase in revenues in the third quarter as demand for its oncology and rare disease drugs offset declining sales of Covid-19 vaccines.
The company is now expecting total revenue excluding Covid drugs to increase by a low-teens percentage, up from a previously guided low double-digit rise. Core earnings per share are forecast to rise by as much as a high double-digit percentage, up from a best-case scenario of a low double-digit rise.