PHARMACEUTICALS giant Astrazeneca has said it wants to hit $80bn (£62.9bn) in total revenue by 2030 through launching new medicines and investing in technology.

The largest London-listed firm by market cap, which reported revenue of $45.8bn (£36bn) in 2023, aims to achieve this goal through growing its existing portfolio of oncology, biopharmaceuticals and rare disease drugs and launching an expected 20 new medicines.

Pascal Soriot, chief executive at Astrazeneca said the firm "announces a new era of growth. In 2023 we delivered the ambitious $45 billion revenue goal set a decade ago.

"With the exciting growth of our innovative pipeline, which has the potential to transform millions of lives, we are now aiming for $80bn by 2030.

"We are planning to launch 20 new medicines by 2030, many with the potential to generate more than $5 billion in peak year revenues. The breadth of our portfolio together with continued investment in innovation supports sustained growth well past the end of the decade."

Astrazeneca said it will continue to prioritise research and development while improving efficiency in a bid to boost profits and achieve a core operating margin of a mid-30s percentage by 2026.

It comes amid an investment drive for the drug manufacturer. The company this week said it plans to invest $1.5bn (£1.2bn) in a new manufacturing facility in Singapore to produce antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), a next-generation cancer treatment.

For the first quarter of 2024, the group reported revenue growth of 19 per cent at constant exchange rates to $12.7bn (£10.2bn).

The group's oncology and rare disease divisions were particularly strong performers, with revenue up 26 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively.

Shares in the pharma giant closed up 2.22 per cent yesterday.

(c) 2024 City A.M., source Newspaper