Following the recent discontinuations of assets in Alzheimer’s and migraine, AstraZeneca is stepping away from neuro altogether.
AstraZeneca will no longer play in the neuroscience space, company executives said in an investor call on Tuesday, presenting the pharma’s first-quarter 2025 earnings report.
“There’s a lot of things we can’t fund and we cannot be everywhere,” CEO Pascal Soriot said during the call. “CNS really is probably better managed by other companies that have a focus on that.”
In the quarter, AstraZeneca discontinued the development of MEDI1814, an early-stage anti-amyloid beta antibody for Alzheimer’s disease, and MEDI0618, a Phase II monoclonal antibody for migraine, according to its latest pipeline document. These moves leave the company with no active neuroscience program.
“We have closed our neuro programs and identified partners for some of them,” noted Sharon Barr, executive vice president of BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca. “This represents the closure of our neuroscience group at AstraZeneca.” The move will result in “a very small number of roles being placed at risk of redundancy,” a company spokesperson told BioSpace by email.
The move away from neuroscience will allow the company to focus on its “core therapeutic priorities and fund our high-value programs,” Barr continued, channeling resources into weight management, dyslipidemia, respiratory diseases and immunology indications. “This prioritization allows us to reinvest in the programs that we think are important for AstraZeneca.”
In the first three months of 2025, AstraZeneca recorded 10% revenue growth, nearly hitting $13.6 billion. The pharma’s performance in the quarter fell short of the analyst forecast, however, which pegged its Q1 sales to hit $13.68 billion. On a per-share basis, on the other hand, AstraZeneca came out ahead, earning $1.88 in the quarter versus the consensus of $1.10.
Cancer remained the pharma’s strongest area, racking up more than $5.6 billion in sales across its various products. While its top-selling product was the type 2 diabetes therapy Farxiga—which surged 15% year-on-year to bring in more than $2 billion in Q1—most of its main growth drivers come from its oncology business.
The kinase inhibitor Tagrisso, for instance, brought in nearly $1.7 billion in the quarter, a 12% increase from the same period last year. Imfinzi, a PD-1 blocker indicated for lung cancer, earned $1.26 billion in Q1, while the lymphoma drug Calquence and the PARP inhibitor Lynparza raked in $762 million and $726 million, respectively.
Looking ahead to the rest of the year, AstraZeneca expects its total revenue to grow by a high single-digit percentage, while core earnings per share will increase by a low double-digit percentage.
Tariffs Unlikely To Have Major Impact
AstraZeneca executives on Tuesday refused to commit to a substantial investment package in the U.S., emphasizing that the potential effects of tariffs on its business would be “manageable,” particularly since the majority of its products in the U.S. are being manufactured domestically, Chief Financial Officer Aradhana Sarin said during the investor call.
The pharma made a $3.5 billion injection into its U.S. footprint last November, money that it earmarked for an R&D facility in Massachusetts and a couple of manufacturing facilities. “We’ve said this year that our [capital expenditure] would be 50% higher than last year, but going forward, we need to look at how the portfolio develops,” Sarin added.
For instance, before making any major infrastructure investments, the pharma will first want to see how its oral GLP-1 drug performs in clinical trials and how its breast cancer candidate camizestrant progresses, Sarin said. “We will then start to plan for success for these molecules and we’ll build and manage supply accordingly.”
Several of AstraZeneca’s Big Pharma peers have in recent weeks announced hefty multi-billion investments in the U.S., largely in response to the threat of tariffs from President Donald Trump. Eli Lilly was first out the door in February with a $27 billion pledge to construct four new plants. J&J was close behind, with a $55 billion commitment that it will make over the next four years.
Novartis, Roche and Regeneron have all also announced U.S.-based investments.
Editor’s note (April 29): This story was updated to include comments from AstraZeneca on the workforce impact of the company’s decision to shutter its neuroscience programs.
