* Q1 total sales $7.32 bln, core EPS $1.63 beat forecasts
* CEO anticipates performance acceleration in H2
* Maintains 2021 outlook; vaccine, Alexion impact excluded
* Says ramping up vaccine supplies
* Shares jump 2% in early trading
(Writes through with new details on earnings, background)
By Pushkala Aripaka and Ludwig Burger
April 30 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca said its COVID-19 vaccine
contributed $275 million to first-quarter sales and shaved three
cents per share from its earnings, as it posted
better-than-expected results and forecast growth in the second
half.
This is the first time the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has given
financial details of the distribution and sales of its vaccine,
which it developed with Oxford University. It has said it will
not make a profit from the shot during the pandemic.
Vaccine revenue included delivery of about 68 million doses,
AstraZeneca said on Friday, adding that sales in Europe,
where it faces a legal case, were $224 million, in emerging
markets $43 million and $8 million in the rest of the world.
Sales of $275 million for 68 million doses equates to a
price tag of around $4 per shot.
The results come after a bruising start to the year as the
drugmaker struggles with production of its vaccine and faces a
legal battle after cutting deliveries to Europe, while
regulators probe rare blood clots in people who got the shot.
AstraZeneca was one of the leaders in the global race to
develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Its cheap and easily transportable
shot was hailed as a milestone in the fight against the crisis,
but has since faced a series of controversies.
In presentation slides published ahead of a media call,
AstraZeneca said it was ramping up vaccine supplies with
production yields improving, without providing details.
AstraZeneca said it would submit an application for U.S.
emergency use in the coming weeks, adding global data from
late-stage and emerging real-world data following a roll-out.
The vaccine's efficacy data had also been questioned in the
past.
While the coronavirus continues to have a mixed impact on
drugmakers, AstraZeneca's core business has proved resilient.
The company on Friday maintained its guidance for 2021 and
predicted better times ahead.
However, the guidance does not include any impact from sales
of the vaccine and its $39 billion purchase of Alexion, which is
expected to close in the third quarter.
"We expect the impact of COVID to reduce and anticipate a
performance acceleration in the second half of 2021," Chief
Executive Pascal Soriot said in statement.
Quarterly sales growth was driven by best-selling lung
cancer drug Tagrisso, up 17% to $1.15 billion, while revenues
from heart and diabetes drug Farxiga jumped by more than half to
a better-than-expected $625 million, on new prescriptions to
treat heart failure.
Total revenue of $7.32 billion for the three months to March
surpassed analysts' expectation of $6.94 billion, while core
earnings of $1.63 cents per share were also ahead of a consensus
of $1.48 per share.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru and Ludwig Burger
in Frankfurt; Editing by John Stonestreet, Josephine Mason and
Alexander Smith)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
