AstraZeneca saw sales rise 4 percent, to $21 billion, in fiscal year 2018, marking its strongest growth since 2009, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Four notes:
1. AstraZeneca has seen a string of patent expirations in recent years, including its anti-cholesterol pill, Crestor, and heartburn drug Nexium, which pressured the company's finances in the past.
2. However, the drugmaker began shifting its focus to new pipeline candidates, including cancer treatments, under CEO Pascal Soriot.
3. Many of those cancer drugs, which are now on the market, are driving sales growth. Revenue from AstraZeneca's lung cancer drug Tagrisso and ovarian cancer drug Lynparza, increased 49 percent to $6 billion.
4. Overall, AstraZeneca expects its revenue growth to accelerate this year, forecasting a high single-digit percentage increase.
Read the full report here.