The News
AstraZeneca announced a 38% jump in annual pretax profits, driven by strong sales of its cancer and immunology treatments.
Britain’s largest pharmaceutical firm reported last-quarter sales of $14.9 billion, beating expectations despite falling sales in China, which the company attributed to a mild winter in the country reducing demand for respiratory drugs.
Cancer is a disease of aging, and as developed-world populations get older, diagnoses are going up — in the UK, about half the population can expect to develop cancer in their lifetime — but improved treatments mean that survival is going up as well: More than half of patients survive for 10 years or more beyond diagnosis, double the number of 50 years ago.
AD