What should I know about AstraZeneca?
AstraZeneca is a British-Swedish biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. It was formed in 1999 by the merger of Sweden's Astra AB and Britain's Zeneca Group, and it operates in more than 60 countries. It focuses on oncology (cancer), rare diseases and biopharmaceuticals. In the first half of 2026 it reported total revenue of $30.7 billion, up 6% at constant exchange rates. Chief executive Pascal Soriot says the company is on track for its $80 billion revenue ambition for 2030.
What are AstraZeneca's main drugs?
AstraZeneca's best-known medicines include Tagrisso for lung cancer, Farxiga for diabetes and heart failure, and Crestor for cholesterol. Other major products include the cancer drugs Enhertu, Imfinzi and Calquence. In the first half of 2026 product sales reached $28.9 billion, with double-digit growth in oncology and rare disease. That growth offset falling Farxiga sales after it lost US exclusivity, along with pricing pressure in China. The company's results release did not give sales for individual products.
What is AstraZeneca currently developing?
AstraZeneca says it has won 30 regulatory approvals since the fourth quarter of 2025, including Baxfendy, a first-in-class hypertension treatment, in the US, and several new breast cancer uses for Enhertu. Imfinzi met its main goals in two bladder cancer trials, and a gastric cancer trial of Sone-ve met its endpoint. However, Wainua did not meet the main goal of its heart-disease trial in ATTR cardiomyopathy. The company expects more than twenty important trial results over the next 18 months.
Have there been any controversies involving AstraZeneca?
In February 2024, in High Court documents, AstraZeneca admitted that its COVID-19 vaccine "can, in very rare cases, cause" a rare clotting condition called TTS. In May 2024 it withdrew the vaccine worldwide, citing a surplus of updated vaccines. The company says independent estimates show it saved over 6.5 million lives in its first year. In China, authorities detained the company's China president, Leon Wang, in October 2024 in a wider investigation involving alleged altered test results and drug smuggling. AstraZeneca said it was working with the authorities.
Is AstraZeneca publicly traded, and how big is it?
Yes. AstraZeneca trades under the ticker AZN. It began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on 2 February 2026, alongside its existing listings on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stockholm. Its market value was about £210 billion ($264 billion) in early August 2026, around the time the Financial Times reported merger talks with Bristol Myers Squibb. A senior source then told Reuters that no discussions were taking place.