Sawt Falasteen - Drugmaker AstraZeneca profit jumps as US business grows

Net profit jumped 77 percent to $2.53 billion in the third quarter compared with the July-September period one year earlier, AstraZeneca said in a statement.

Group revenue grew 12 percent to $15.2 billion, driven by oncology drugs.

"We are... delivering on our strategy to strengthen our operations in the United States to power our growth," chief executive Pascal Soriot said in the earnings statement.

"This includes a historic agreement with the US government to lower the cost of medicines for American patients, and broadening our US manufacturing footprint."

Trump last month announced a deal with AstraZeneca for significantly lower drug prices in the United States.

In exchange, the Trump administration agreed to a three-year delay on new tariffs.

In July, AstraZeneca announced plans to invest $50 billion by 2030 on boosting its US manufacturing and research operations.

- Europe challenged -

"The US is half of our potential revenue by 2030," Soriot later pointed out in a conference call with media.

While he said Europe would maintain "a large industrial base... future products rely on new technologies that require new manufacturing tools to produce those products.

"And these technologies are going to the US and they are going to China and other parts of the world. So in 15, 20 years, Europe could easily lose its health sovereignty," Soriot warned.

Highlighting the increasing importance of the US market to AstraZeneca, the group in late September said it planned to list its shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange to attract more investors.

AstraZeneca shareholders on Monday voted in favour of the move.

Britain's largest drugmaker will remain headquartered in the UK and keep its primary listing on London's top-tier FTSE 100 index.

AstraZeneca's share price edged up 0.1 percent in late morning deals following Thursday's earnings update.

"Cancer treatment sales remain robust, accounting for almost 44 percent of overall revenues during this latest quarter," noted Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Interactive Investor.

X.Habash--SF-PST