AstraZeneca - Q4 and FY results 2010

Financial results - David Brennan, CEO

If I look through the numbers today, it actually looks like a bit of a mixed bag. On the downside, the key four numbers are lower. Looking at the full year, profit and revenues are flat. But on the plus side, you've outperformed the guidance that you gave the market. So, from where you're sitting, what's your perspective?

Well, I think we've seen a strong and resilient performance in our business in 2010. We outperformed the guidance that we gave at the beginning of the year. And I think the pattern for the business over the course of the year, where we said the second half would be a bit slower than the first half, came true. So I think we had a good year.

And looking at some of the portfolio, which were the star performers from you that contributed to this?

When I think about the star performers in the portfolio for the year, I would start with the Seroquel franchise and say certainly now, having achieved over $5bn in sales, with Seroquel XR now over $1bn in sales in 2010, that's a darn good performance for that franchise and for our business. Symbicort grew at 20 per cent globally, which was very, very good.

And of course, I think the big performer for the year would have been Crestor. The Crestor franchise is now well over $5bn. It grew at 24 per cent. But importantly, it grew globally. So, whether we're in Japan or China or Australia, Western Europe, the United States, it's a product that is really making a difference in patients' lives around the world.

It's interesting that you give the global view there. Because if I look at the business mix, on the one hand I see patent expiry and pricing pressures from Western governments, but in emerging markets there's some very good growth there, coming from some of those older medicines. How are you reshaping the AstraZeneca business to deal with this?

Well, one…

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