Thursday, 02 February 2017
Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, commenting on the results said:
"Our financial results in the year were in line with expectations and reflected the ongoing transition of our company. We brought a sharper strategic focus to our three main therapy areas, boosting pipeline productivity further as we saw with Priority Review Designations for durvalumab and Tagrisso, as well as regulatory submission acceptances for durvalumab in bladder cancer and for benralizumab in severe, uncontrolled asthma. Our underlying business is growing as a new AstraZeneca emerges, driven by competitive franchises and Emerging Markets.
2017 has the potential to be a turning point for our company as we near the end of our patent-expiry period and bring new medicines to patients across the globe. We anticipate defining data, in particular from our outstanding pipeline of Immuno-Oncology and targeted treatments. This year we have the opportunity to launch several life-changing medicines for cancer, respiratory and metabolic diseases. It is an exciting time as we rapidly approach the inflection point for our anticipated return to long-term growth, built on the solid foundations of a science-led pipeline.”