It’s not the first time AstraZeneca has had to endure the loss of a high profile scientist. Last summer two of its best brains left to take up chief executive roles at small pharmaceutical companies. First, chief medical officer Briggs Morrison took the top job at US biotech Syndax and just two weeks later respiratory expert James Ward-Lilley moved to Aim-listed Vectura Group (VEC).
Speeding up the pipeline
Dr Liu has headed up Medimmune, the R&D branch of Astra, since 2014. His decision to depart is awkward timing considering AstraZeneca’s focus on re-energising the pipeline: in the last three years the group has invested over $16bn (£11.1bn) in R&D. The strategy has shifted to take a more streamlined approach to developing drugs, with increased focus on a smaller number of key programmes.
The group appears to be progressing well on the basis of this approach. Notably, the recent regulatory approval for cancer drug Tagrisso has given Astra the capacity to become a major oncology company once again.
But with three key staff jumping ship in the last nine months, this calls into question whether Astra’s pipeline is inspiring enough for some of the world’s top researchers.
Bad news for a new drug
One of the fastest growing areas for AstraZeneca in the past few months has been its new cardiology platform. Sales of heart attack drug Brilinta increased 44 per cent last year and the group had projected annual sales of $3.5bn (£2.4bn) by 2023 (2015: $619m).
But last week Astra announced that the drug had failed to reach an efficacy target in a clinical trial, which would have seen its use extended to treatment for the reduction in the likelihood of recurrence of strokes or heart attacks.
While it’s not of utmost importance for the group (as Brilinta only contributed 4 per cent of overall revenue), it is a setback and also highlights the fine line AstraZeneca is walking as the success of so many of its drugs rests on positive outcomes of clinical trials.
