AstraZeneca boss deflects talk of Pfizer bid

GSK announced on Tuesday that it had sold its cancer drug portfolio to Novartis while buying up the Swiss group's vaccines arm. The move helped both companies cement their existing strengths while getting rid of units that lagged behind. The pair have also rolled their respective consumer healthcare businesses into a joint venture, creating the world's number one over-the-counter medicine supplier.

Mr Soriot said AstraZeneca is looking at partnerships and collaborations to strengthen its its neuroscience and antibiotics units, which do not fit with the company's 'core' medical areas. However he did not rule out the prospect of selling off the businesses instead.

Mr Soriot's remarks came as the company posted an 51pc dip in pre-tax profits to $638m in the first three months of the year.

Quarterly revenues meanwhile climbed for the first time in more than three years, although this was largely due to a one-off boost from Astra taking full control of the diabetes alliance it started with Bristol-Myers Squibb .

The Astra boss warned that profits would continue to take the hit as the company keeps pouring in cash to reinvigorate its pipeline of new drugs.

A string of AstraZeneca's blockbuster drugs, including cholesterol-fighting Crestor, will lose their exclusivity in the next two years, paving the way for cheaper copycat versions to grab market share.

The company is braced for revenues to keep declining for a number of years, but hopes sales will return to growth territory by 2017 as it launches more new drugs.

Heartburn relief pill Nexium, which pulled in $930m in the first quarter, lost patent protection this year, and Mr Soriot said he expected a generic competitor to enter the market in late May.

Mr Soriot however struck a hopeful note on the company's new pipeline of cancer medicines, which includes a number of experimental drugs designed boost the body's own immune response, thought to be one of the main draws for Pfizer.

He also said the company's five 'growth platforms': heart drug Brilinta, the diabetes franchise, respiratory, emerging markets and Japan, delivered 15pc growth in the first quarter.

Analysts however were disappointed with sales of the company's new diabetes drug Onglyza, which saw prescriptions dip 3pc in the quarter. Mr Soriot however said its newest diabetes drug, Farxiga, which can be taken in combination with Onglyza, has been "very successful" since it launched in February.

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