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Welcome back everyone. Now. AstraZeneca recently became the first British company to reach a market value of more than two hundred billion dollars or actually two hundred billion pounds, with a big bed on cancer drugs, helping to drive a rally in the pharma giant. Now shares lower today after a lung cancer drug it's developing with partner showed mixed results in a late stage trial. Now joining us for
an exclusive conversation on that, but also much more. Ascal Soio, the chief executive of Astrazenica, Pascal Stolio, as always, thank you so much for giving us a little bit of your busy schedule. Now, you published some disappointing results overnight in this late stage trial of lung Trunker, which you could still develop in the future. But are you worried that this will affect your numbers?
Good morning, consent.
It won't affect our numbers because actually, first of about the study, I think it's important to remember it was a second studying, second third line meta studying lund cancer. That study is actually positive and in the group of patients where we're looking together, a coward so called non squaremas.
We delivered a two months improvement.
In of all survival versus a very active standard treatment Taxo teal, which hasn't been betted by bidden by any other therapy for the last twenty years or so.
So a very strong set.
Of results, not as perfect as we would have liked, and of course as a result, people are questioning what kind of a power we will get. We're always looking at targeting patients who will benefit the most, delivered better for his benefits, so we've also been developing an AI based test that will enable us to treat the patients who will deliver the most benefit, the so called drop two positive patients.
We have a receptor on their.
So with this we believe that we have a way forward and should really not affect our numbers in a long term.
So you still have this ambition of reaching eighty billion dollars actually in sales by twenty thirty. Do you think you'll get approval of some kind of other approval for this drug.
Yeah, I think we will get an approval.
The question that people are debating is what kind of approval we get initially. In second line, I think it's important to remember that the vast majority of the potential of this medicine is in the first line metasthetic lung cancer, which we are developing right now. We have several studies and we have really good hope and good reason to believe those studies will be positive. We also have presented the World Long Congress a study called neo Course which
is in earlier lines. Again that was very encouraging, very positive. So the big potential is in the earlier lines of treatment and that is going very well, So that is not affecting our confidence in the drug. And beyond this rug, we have many other of.
Course, Vesca, you're one of the industry leaders, of course in oncology, but also cardiovascular and respiratory. What other areas do you earmark for growth and do you have the internal capabilities of doing it alone or are you targeting M and A.
Actually we can do it alone and our focuses can sell of course, as we just talked about, and in cancer, we are developing a whole range of products on tibioty drug conjugates by specific imminotherapies, and importantly we're also working very hard on cell therapy, and cell therapy is opening the potential to cure some cancers. We're also working on technologies that he set engages, so a whole range of new technologies that will improve the.
Treatment of cancer.
Outside of cancer, we're working on cardiovascular disease metabolism. We have a whole range of products to treat obesity and metabolic diseases. And then we're also working on respiratory iminology and anually on were diseases. So you can see that a whole portfolio goes much beyond data or the product we are just talking about a minute ago.
There have been a lot of questions, of course about your side in Liverpool. Has the government reduced state aid available for this investment.
We are still in discussion with the government.
We are committed to this investment, but of course you know we have to wait for the final conclusion of this discussion.
I can't say much more at this point.
It is an important investment for us in the UK, of course, an important investment for pandemic preparedness, but you know, I can't say much more at this point.
Is the UK lacking incentives for manufacturing and R and D investments in general, or is this also something that's under negotiation.
I think the government has really been making quite a number of efforts to attract investment in manufacturing. The bigger issue in the UK, quite frankly, is access to since pharmaceutical companies want to invest in research and development in countries where they believe their medicines will be able to add patients, so they will be reimbursed and.
Patients will be able to benefit.
And in the recent past access and reinvestment has become more and more difficult, not only for US, but for other medicines as well, and that's probably the biggest disincentive to a pharmaceutical company to commit and invest in the UK.
Several Astrozenic employees have also been detained in China relation to two probes. Are you aware of Astrozeneca actually breaking any laws in relation to those investigations.
Yeah, it's something with a very seriously of course.
It's important though to remember the context of it. It's a small number eight nine employees that are affected by this investigation. We have twelve thousand field based employees in the in China. It's a big country, as we all know. We are the largest pharmastical company in China. We have sixteen almost seventeen thousand employees twelve thousand in the field, so we are looking at a smaller number of people.
We have found policies complaints for we see with twin people, we of course investigate, but it's impossible to have a complaints offica being each and every one of our field based employee.
So we are working very closely with the authorities.
And I think actually what the government is doing is not affecting us on it, it's affecting all the companies and it's a good thing because we need to really make sure that we can operate in a very compliant environment in the in in China like.
Warehouse in the world.
What are some of the key threads for us Zenneka in relation to doing business in China and how can you actually mitigate some of those risks.
Yeah, of course we're all aware of the geopolitical tensions between the US and China and particular, so what we have been doing, of course follow the laws and regulations in the US, in China everywhere, but also we've been building our supply Chine in China, so we can supply China from China and also supply some emerging markets from China. So we have several new investments, manufacturing investments in China for many of our new medicines, and in parallel to this,
we're investing in the US. Recently, we invested in a cell serrupy manufacturing plant in the US in Maryland. So you can see we're building two supply chains that are going to be independent from each other and enabling us to supply China on the one hand, in the Western world on the other hand.
Would you ever actually consider spinning off the business in China.
No, I mean it's a very important part of our company.
First of all, there are lots of patients who need our medicines in China. But also importantly the last three four five years, China has become a very important part of global innovation in our industry. There are lots of new medicines that are invented in China that we can licenseing or co develop with Chinese companies that will benefit
people around the world. So we believe that China will remain an important part of our company, not only because we sell there, but also because we manufacture export and also can source innovation from China that will benefit the entire world.
You mentioned the US, What do you need from the next president of the United States of America when it comes to healthcare.
Yes, I was listening to Grace Peters, who was with you a few minutes ago, and she was talking about policy. Essentially, we need policies that will support innovation in our sector, innovation in biomedicines, innovation in research and development. The US has been the country that has been driving innovation in our industry censors for many years, and I believe will remain so for a long time to come. China is the other big driver of innovation. Unfortunately Europe has been
falling behind. So what we need is continued investment in basic research. We need a continued investment in biotech, in startups through private investment that is of course incentivized to invest in those emerging companies. And finally, we need, of course access for medicines, so that is really a key part of incentivizing pharmaceutical companies make sure that their medicines can actually help patients.
I mean, looking at your share price, where does the market most under estimate Astrasenca.
I think the market under estimates the strength of our portfolio and the growth we can deliver over the next.
Number of years.
You know, the pharmaceutical industry is not a very simple endeavor we all know, and it's not for the faint hearted.
And you never will have.
A linear development. You have ups and downs, and that's what we've had in the last ten twelve years. But in general we are moving in the right direction. We have a verse from portfolio and people are underestimating several of the products we have in the portfolio and reacting to, you know, events that happened on the day as opposed to sometimes looking at the long trend, our long term shoulders.
You know, they of course look at those events, but they keep their eye on the long term, which is, you know, where we can be in twenty thirty and beyond, and that is clearly a good place because we have good development plans and will continue going.
So, given the setback with Taichi Sankyo, what are you most excited about what's coming up in the pipeline?
Well, I should say that remains a very important product for us. It's a setback in time if if if it's a setback, I mean, we'll have to see what the header decides. But even if we had a more limited approval than we're looking for, you know, we don't
know what we will get. We have to wait for the DA but it's a timing issue because these new tests we have developed will enable us to expand our presents and are using second third line and then we have the studies in the first line, and then we thanks to this test, we'll go into other indications potentially rest of course, but also many others, so that all remains an important portfolio about product. Our portfolio antibody drug conjugates is very exciting. Our best specifics in oncology are
very exciting. Our portfolio products in obesity and cardio metabolism is also very exciting.
Sensor up.
The overall both in oncology and immunology is very exciting. So there's a lot of products that really are going to change the future of medicine and drive out walls.
Thank you so much for your time today. That was Pascal sol Hio, of course, the chief executive of Astrozenega.