AstraZeneca's sales and profits have increased sharply thanks to setbacks for generic rivals and the launch of a swine flu vaccine in the US.

The UK’s second largest pharmaceutical company said revenues in the third quarter rose 5pc to $8.2bn (£5bn) and pre-tax profits 24pc to $3.03bn.

On constant exchange rates, sales rose 10pc and around half of this was contributed by growth in the sales of Toprol-XL, the high blood pressure treatment which was expected to be hit by generic rivals, and $152m of sales from the company’s nasal-spray swine flu vaccine. In the key US market, this helped to drive a 14pc growth in sales.

David Brennan, the chief executive, said: “Our strong business performance is driven by good operating execution bolstered by revenue upsides from Toprol-XL and H1N1 vaccine sales.

“Business performance in the context of tough global economic conditions has been better than we anticipated which, together with good operating execution and some unexpected revenue upsides, including Toprol-XL and delayed generic entry of Casodex in the US, combined to drive our strong performance in the first half.

“As expected, this trend has continued in the third quarter, including an uplift from initial sales of H1N1 influenza vaccine.”

Overall, the company is expecting $453m of sales from the swine flu vaccine, which has only been approved in the US.

As a consequence of the results, Mr Brennan upgraded the company’s forecasts for the year for earnings per share from $5.70-$6.00 to $6.20-$6.40.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk, Oct 29 2009
By Graham Ruddick