AstraZeneca reported second quarter earnings and sales that exceeded expectations on Friday, offsetting a decline in COVID-19 vaccination sales with a good showing from its blockbuster cancer medications.

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company had its shares rise as far as 4.8% before falling back to 3.9% at 1052 GMT. This made the company’s stock the largest weighted gainer on the FTSE 100.

According to an AstraZeneca shareholder and an analyst, chief executive Pascal Soriot’s remarks in favour of the firm’s data from a significant lung cancer trial helped raise sentiment.

Soriot claimed the firm is “very encouraged” by interim findings from the TROPION-Lung01 trial in a media interview following the release of second-quarter results, which showed a 25% increase in profitability, but he did not elaborate on why the company has not deemed results to be “clinically meaningful.”

Shares of AstraZeneca dropped as much as 8% earlier this month as a result of disappointing interim results from the TROPION trial for the experimental precision medication datopotamab deruxtecan.

Some worries were allayed when the business announced on Friday that it will proceed with its intention to submit trial data to the American drug authority.

After unimpressive early data, Markus Manns, a senior portfolio manager at Union Investment and stakeholder in AstraZeneca, stated that this “should increase investor confidence in the product.”

The company’s adjusted profit of $2.15 per share, up 25% from the $1.98 per share expected in a company-compiled consensus, added to a string of profitable quarters for the UK’s largest company by market cap, valued at more than 165 billion pounds ($211 billion), which is supported by a robust drug pipeline.

Nevertheless, despite having $445 million in sales a year earlier, the business reported no sales of its COVID-19 vaccine, which was their best-selling product in 2021 during the height of the pandemic, and stated that it anticipates a sharp fall in sales for the entire year.

The issue of competing with rival vaccines produced by Pfizer (PFE.N) and Moderna is shown by the quick decline of the COVID business for one of the first drugmakers to create a shot against the virus in 2020.

“Each of our non-COVID-19 therapy areas saw double-digit revenue growth, with eight medicines delivering more than $1bn of revenue in the first half, demonstrating the strength of our business,” Soriot said.

Sales in China increased by 7% during the quarter when COVID medications were excluded from the calculation, marking the fourth straight quarter of gain on that basis.

In 2023, the business now anticipates overall sales to grow by a low-to-mid single digit percentage, up from a low single digit percentage increase, according to an enhanced version of its outlook for China.

The biggest pharmaceutical company in China, AstraZeneca, contributed 13% of sales the previous year.

The drugmaker was reportedly exploring launching a separate subsidiary in Hong Kong and preparing a plan to spin off its China business, according to an FT report from June.

In response to a query regarding that report on Friday’s call with media, Soriot labelled it a “rumour”.

“We are satisfied with the way we are structured in China today and our focus is delivering those medicines to patients and partnering with local biotech companies in particular.”

AstraZeneca maintained the prognosis for 2023.

Separately, the business announced on Friday that its affiliate Alexion has decided to purchase the early-stage rare disease gene therapy portfolio of American pharmaceutical company Pfizer (PFE.N) for up to $1 billion, plus royalties on sales, to improve its capabilities in genomic medicine.

(Adapted from SaltWire.com)

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