EXCLUSIVE AstraZeneca may exit vaccines, but its CEO has no COVID regrets

CEO “can’t be sure” business will remain in vaccines for long. searching for add-on deals in oncology, cardiology, etc. claims they can “keep doing this job for many years.”

The CEO of AstraZeneca, who once produced one of the first COVID-19 shots but has since lost out to competitors, told Reuters on Tuesday that the company might not remain in the vaccine business in the long run.

Adoption of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine has been hampered by production delays, regulatory investigations into rare cases of serious side effects, and worries about its relatively short shelf life in comparison to other shots.

Its use has decreased in much of the developed world as countries have immunized large populations and prefer Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines as boosters in the third year of the pandemic amid a global vaccine supply glut.

The COVID vaccine from AstraZeneca is still awaiting U.S. approval.

Soriot stated in a Reuters Newsmaker interview on Tuesday that the London-listed company is expanding its portfolio of antibody therapies, including for COVID-19, the respiratory virus RSV, and other viruses.

When asked about the COVID vaccines division’s future, he replied, “I can’t be sure we will be there or not.”

He also stated that he was unsure whether AstraZeneca would expand its portfolio of vaccines for other infections, but that the company was looking into it.

Given the slowing sales of the COVID shot as initial sales contracts have been fulfilled, fierce competition from mRNA vaccines, and its relatively lack of experience in the field, investors have made predictions about the future of the vaccine business.

Late last year, the company established a distinct division for vaccines and antibody treatments.

Nevertheless, Soriot claimed that he did not regret the company’s collaboration with Oxford University to create a COVID vaccine because they had distributed billions of doses and reportedly saved 6 million lives worldwide.

With sales of $3.9 billion, the vaccine ranked as AstraZeneca’s second best-selling product in 2021.

According to Soriot, AstraZeneca is also searching for bolt-on acquisitions, such as small and midsize businesses that specialize in oncology and cardiovascular treatments.

We constantly search for outside opportunities, he declared.

CONTINUE DOING THIS JOB
In his ten years as CEO, the share price of AstraZeneca has increased by four times.

He said, “I can continue doing this job for many years.”

Leif Johansson, the departing chairman, was once thought to have a natural successor in the 63-year-old.

But in July, Soriot dispelled rumours that he had any immediate plans to step down, saying he anticipated working with the business’s recently announced chairman-designate Michel Demare for a very long time.

Following a stint at pharmaceutical rival Roche, Soriot was given the task of turning around a troubled AstraZeneca in October 2012. The company had been hit by a number of significant patent losses and a number of clinical trial failures.

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s fortunes drastically changed with the Frenchman in charge.

He narrowed the company’s focus to specialty drugs and the lucrative field of oncology, made acquisitions to stock the company’s supply of medications, repelled a hostile takeover attempt from American pharma behemoth Pfizer, and made significant investments in R&D to raise the company’s dismal success rate for drug development.

However, he cautioned on Tuesday that due to recent U.S. drug price laws passed, fewer new medicines would be created going forward.

When asked about inflationary pressures, Soriot responded, “We can’t expect our selling prices to go up. We are going to have to become more innovative and productive.”

The company’s sales in China, which make up almost 5% of its overall annual revenue, have decreased recently as a result of lower drug prices and COVID lockdown measures that prevented some cancer patients from receiving a diagnosis and seeking treatment.

Soriot stated on Tuesday that sales were improving in the third quarter in the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world and that he expected the nation to play a larger role in the global market over the following ten years.