AstraZeneca Plc has suffered minor setback during the year ended December 2007 due to higher R&D expenditure. The company's net profit declined by 6.6 per cent to US$ 7,983 million from $8,543 million in the previous year. Its net sales improved by 11.6 per cent to $29,559 million from $26,475 million. The earning per share worked out to $3.74 as against $3.86 in the last period.

The company's sales in US increased by 7 per cent and that in the rest of the world increased by 8 per cent. The sales in emerging markets increased by 17 per cent. Nexium sales were slightly down for the full year to $5,216 million and sales in US were down by 4 per cent mainly due to continued strong growth of generic omeprazole and lower realised prices. Seroquel sales increased by 15 per cent to $4,027 million with sales in the US up 15 per cent. The launch rollout of the schizophrenia indication for Seroquel XR is underway, to be supported by an extensive life cycle management programme.

Its sales of gastrointestinal products declined by 6 per cent to 6,443 million during 2007 from $6,631 million in the previous year. The sales of the cardiovascular and respiratory products increased by 5 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. Oncology division recorded sales growth of 8 per cent and neuroscience division sales went up by 10 per cent to $5,340 million.

The company's R&D expenditure increased significantly by 32.3 per cent to $5,162 million from $3,902 million in the previous year. A record 36 compounds were selected to enter development compared with 22 in the 2006. Efforts to reduce early attrition have resulted in 24 molecules entering first human testing during the year, double the 12 achieved in 2006. In 2008, the company expects to file up to three first licence applications for new chemical entities, and expects that a record number of projects will reach proof of concept decision points by year-end.

David Brennan, CEO, said, "The strong underlying results for the full year reflect our determined action in three priority areas: our pipeline is significantly stronger, with acquisition of Medlmmune creating a leading position in biologics; key product sales have been robust in major markets and we have achieved strong growth in the emerging markets; and productivity initiatives, including the restructuring programme, are progressing o plan. I am confident that we are taking the right steps to better position AstraZeneca as we, and the industry, encounter increasingly challenging market conditions."