AstraZeneca announce record Q2 earnings, appoint David Brennan as CEO |
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Published
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Mon, 01 Aug 2005 06:35
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LONDON: Britain's second-largest pharmaceuticals company, AstraZeneca, has reported an astounding 55 percent increase in second-quarter revenues and in doing so has beat all forecasts.
The strong performance of the much-maligned company in the second half can be attributed to the soaring sales of schizophrenia drug Seroquel and gastric acid treatment Nexium. These results are especially sweet for outgoing chief executive Sir Tom McKillop, who had faced a tough last year as two of the company's drugs, Exanta, a blood-thinner, and Iressa, a cancer treatment medicine were rejected by the US Food and Drug Administration and failed to meet approval.
In the aftermath of this blow AstraZeneca faced a massive 30 percent loss of it’s of its stock market value. This loss totaled almost £13 billion. That he has managed to turn the company around in such a short time speaks volumes of his ability as a top quality manager. Astra would surely be poorer sans his experience. Commenting on the fact that he is bowing out on a high, Sir McKillop said, "We were sitting in AstraZeneca with one of the most exciting opportunities you could dream of in this industry, it was absolutely magic. I would have loved those things to come through. It would have blown your mind what this company could have delivered." He added that the company's belief in the scientists who work hard for the progress was "the heart and soul of the company, that's not going to change."
Meanwhile, the company has announced that David R. Brennan, who heads its North American operations will take on McKillop's job when he steps down in January next year. Sir McKillop welcomed his appointment and clarified that he had been chosen ahead of Jon Symonds due to his superior experience, "David’s got 30 years’ experience in the industry. He has been extensively involved in commercial operations. He has extensive operational performance, more than the other candidates. He is a very rounded character, a very good team player," he commented.
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