AstraZeneca shares up as sales and profit growth continues

The price of shares in pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) has risen by 5.32% to 6,697p (as of 10:00 BST) after it published results for the first half of 2019. Total revenues were up by 9% with strong growth among the firm’s new drugs and reported operating profits grew by the same amount.

CEO Pascal Soirot commented: “The momentum generated last year continued into the first half, consolidating AstraZeneca’s return to growth based on the strength of our new medicines. Five of these new medicines are anticipated to be blockbusters this year, supporting sales across both Oncology and BioPharmaceuticals. Emerging Markets, the US and Japan all grew strongly, and we delivered an encouraging turnaround in Europe in the second quarter. Selective investment in sustainable growth also continued, particularly in Emerging Markets and in our launch programmes. Additional regulatory approvals for Lynparza in ovarian cancer in the EU and Japan, together with approvals for Breztri and Bevespi in COPD in Japan, illustrated further progress from our pipeline“.