Crestor fears hit AstraZeneca

ASTRAZENECA boss Sir Tom McKillop is in no hurry to join the latest wave of consolidation sweeping the global pharmaceuticals industry.

'There will be no stupid deals,' he insists.

McKillop appeared to rule out a rival bid for Franco-German drugs group Aventis, currently on the receiving end of a £33bn hostile takeover attempt by Sanofi-Synthelabo.

'We are not intending any merger discussions,' he said. 'We are focused exclusively on organic growth.'

AZ has transformed its drugs portfolio, launching new products to plug the gap in sales caused by cheap copycats.

'It's essentially a job completed,' said McKillop as sales from new or growing drugs reached £4.5bn - more than 40% of the group total. 'It's a platform to deliver strong growth.'

Biggest earners included established treatments such as Nexium, launched to replace its best-selling ulcer treatment Losec, and Seroquel, for schizophrenia.

AZ met forecasts for 2003 with profits of £2.3bn, down 9%. Dividends rose 4.8% to 45.3p.

But opinion was split over the crucial US launch of AZ's cholesterol-lowering treatment Crestor, hailed as the company's next blockbuster.

McKillop insists that early sales are on track, but sceptics say Crestor is off to a disappointing start. The shares fell 73p to 2617p.

Nick Turner, analyst at Jefferies' International, said: 'The conclusion we would draw is that sales development through retail channels is slower than anticipated.'

McKillop underlined the importance of Government support for animal experimentation in the wake of the recent decision to halt plans for a Cambridge University research centre, which attracted huge opposition from anti-vivisectionists.

He said: 'The Government is fully aware this must not be seen as the animal rights activists having a victory.'

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