Thursday, 10 November 2016
Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, commenting on the results said:
“The performance in the third quarter was in line with our expectations, reflecting the transitional impact from the first full quarter of generic competition to Crestor in the US. We sharpened significantly our focus on our three therapy areas, by prioritising our portfolio through externalisation and divestments. This focus, underpinned by our productivity initiatives, supported the rapid reduction in SG&A costs. This enabled our increased investment in Oncology, as well as in China and launched new medicines in key markets.
Our late-stage pipeline continued to advance at a pace we could not have anticipated three years ago, as we saw with recent positive results for Tagrisso in lung cancer, Lynparza in ovarian cancer and our first respiratory biologic medicine, benralizumab, in severe, uncontrolled asthma.
Importantly, we are entering an intensive period of news flow over the next twelve months, in particular revealing the potential of our Immuno-Oncology and targeted medicines. Our focus on scientific excellence keeps us on track with our goals, as we approach an inflection point of a pipeline designed to transform our company and the lives of patients.”