It was a good quarter from the pharmaceutical giants, with GlaxoSmithKline and Astra Zeneca both announcing a big jump in profits last week. Profits at GSK were up £200mn to £1.25bn. Its asthma drug, Advair, enjoyed a wheezing free period, with sales up 20%, while sales of its diabetes treatment Avandia/Avandamet increased 22 per cent.
Meanwhile AstraZeneca too saw a sharp jump in profits rising to $1.23mn from $1.14bn. Its two big drugs- Seroquel and Nexium both saw a big lift in sales. But the market has got doubts. The two big sellers from the company are facing competition from generic drugs.
Chief financial officer Jon Symonds said: “Where we believe our intellectual property is strong and has been challenged and is likely to be infringed, we’ll be as vigorous as anyone in protecting our rights.”
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