AstraZeneca makes $275m from sales of COVID-19 Vaccines

*The company says it is selling COVID-19 Vaccines at cost price

Emmanuel Akosile | ConsumerConnect

British pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca has reported $275 million (227 million euros) in sales from its COVID-19 Vaccine in the first quarter of 2021.

It is the first time that the company discloses Friday, April 30 figures from sales of one of the world’s leading vaccines, reports AFP.

AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 jab was developed with the University of Oxford and has been significant in Britain’s rapid vaccination drive. The company is selling it at cost price.

However, public confidence in the jab has taken a blow over worries of links to very rare blood clots, and the company is in a legal fight with the EU over delivery shortfalls in recent times.

The company made the disclosure in an earnings statement showing that net profit doubled in the first quarter to $1.56 billion, compared with $780 million a year earlier.

It gathered that revenue jumped 15 percent — or 11 percent at constant exchange rates — to $7.32 billion in the reporting period.

Excluding the contribution from the Covid jab, revenues rose by 11 percent — or 7.0 percent at constant rates — to $7.045 billion.

AstraZeneca Thursday had said that its quarterly performance was boosted by strong sales of new cancer drugs.

The firm cautioned however that the Covid pandemic had a “negative impact” on both the diagnosis and treatment of other conditions aside from Covid.

Chief Executive Pascal Soriot in the earnings release said: “We delivered solid progress in the first quarter of 2021 and continued to advance our portfolio of life-changing medicines.

“New medicines contributed over half of revenue and all regions delivered encouraging growth.”

According to the Chief Executive of AzstraZeneca Plc “this performance ensured another quarter of strong revenue and earnings progression, continued profitability, and cash-flow generation, despite the pandemic’s ongoing negative impact on the diagnosis and treatment of many conditions.”

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