The announcement comes after its sales soared by over 50 percent in last quarter after it made more than ￡780million worth of vaccine sales. But now for the first time, AstraZeneca has said that it will seek to profit from sales of the jab in order to fund an antibody treatment that the company will work on. They have reportedly said that they will start making only a small profit from the vaccine, and that profit will be diverted to fund the work on the new Covid wonderdrug.
It comes after AstraZeneca reported this morning that their sales went up 28 percent to just over $25billion (￡18.7billion).
The sales of the vaccines manufactured by the Anglo-Swedish company completely outshone rival companies Pfizer, whose sales weighed in at $13billion (￡9.8billion) and Moderna, who sold $5billion (￡3.7billion).
But the company had not increased its profits guidance for the year, which meant the share prices were two percent lower.
The pharmaceutical giant was keen to explain that now, only modest profits will be made from the vaccine.
AstraZeneca will also supply the vaccine at cost to developing nations.
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Chief executive Pascal Soriot said: “AstraZeneca’s scientific leadership continues to provide strong revenue growth and exceptional pipeline delivery, with eight positive late-stage readouts across seven medicines since June, including our long-acting antibody combination showing promise in both prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
And AstraZeneca has already been responsible for trialling innovative treatments for various diseases.
Back in August, the company announced results from a phase 3 trial for the medicine for Wilson’s disease proved three times more successful at removing copper deposits compared with standard treatments.
Wilson’s disease is a progressive genetic condition where the body’s ability to remove excess copper is compromised.
Damage from toxic copper build-up can lead to liver disease and psychiatric and neurological problems, such as personality changes, tremors and difficulty in walking, swallowing or talking.
AtsraZeneca also celebrated a huge win back in September when it struck up a ￡400million deal with American rare disease specialists Caelum Biosciences.
This gave the FTSE 100 group access to another potentially profitable treatment that is undergoing late-stage trials.
Caelum, the New Jersey-based biotechnology company, has developed a treatment for AL amyloidosis, which is a life-threatening disease that damages the heart and kidneys.
The Amercian compan will be folded into AstraZeneca’s Alexion division, and Alexion will pay over ￡100million to buy the remaining stake in Caelum that it does not own already.