Astra and Roche Get New Growth Engines as Older Drugs Fade
- Major pharma companies beat analysts’ estimates in Europe
- Astra shares rise to highest level in company’s history
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New medicines are taking over as the engines of growth at Roche Holding AG and AstraZeneca Plc as sales of aging blockbusters give way to competition from cheaper generics.
Astra and Roche pointed to new drugs for cancer, heart disease and multiple sclerosis that helped both drugmakers join rivals Novartis AG and GlaxoSmithKline Plc in beating analysts’ estimates for second-quarter profit. That marked a clean sweep for the four major European pharmaceutical companies that reported earnings so far this month.