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Covid-vaccine maker AstraZeneca said Friday that profits fell sharply in the first half on ballooning costs linked to its takeover of US biotech firm Alexion. The pharmaceutical group added that sales of its Covid-19 vaccine Vaxzevria slumped 49 percent in the second quarter. Net profit slumped 64 per cent to $746 million compared with the first six months of last year, AstraZeneca said in a statement. Operating expenses jumped 33 percent, "reflecting the addition of Alexion, and continued investment in new launches and the pipeline" of drugs, the group said. That offset a 48-percent jump in revenue to more than $22 billion. Revenue rose strongly thanks to sales of Alexion medicines. The group said annual revenue from Covid-19 medicines is anticipated to be broadly flat compared with 2021.

Global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company AstraZeneca has signed an agreement with Scorpion Therapeutics to discover, develop and commercialize precision medicines against cancer proteins. The collaboration, announced today (January 13), will focus on a class of proteins called transcription factors, which can regulate important cellular processes including cell growth and survival. Many transcription factors have been identified earlier, but were considered 'undruggable' using conventional drug discovery approaches, the company said in a statement. Susan Galbraith, executive vice president, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, said: "Unlocking potentially transformative biology is pivotal for delivering the next wave of cancer treatments. "Scorpion's innovative platform is a strong strategic fit as we explore a range of new modalities across our broad drug discovery toolbox with promise to disrupt the activity of these highly-validated cancer targets."