Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer, commenting on the results said:
"AstraZeneca has delivered another period of strong growth thanks to robust performances across all regions and disease areas, particularly Oncology, New CVRM and Fasenra in Respiratory. As a result, we have delivered further earnings progression, supported ongoing launches, and continued our investment in R&D.
We continue to advance our portfolio of life-changing medicines with further significant progress across disease areas. In Oncology, we recently presented Lynparza's OlympiA Phase III trial at the plenary session of the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, and we also shared the final results from Calquence's head-to-head trial with ibrutinib. In BioPharmaceuticals, the US approved Farxiga for chronic kidney disease and granted tezepelumab Priority Review to treat patients with asthma. Alexion will enable us to enhance our pipeline, extending the Company's presence in rare diseases and immunology with its complement biology.
Following the successful acquisition of Alexion, we are today updating our full-year 2021 guidance; our long-term goals to accelerate scientific discovery, invest for sustainable growth and deliver more benefits for patients remains unchanged."
