Astrazeneca-report free essay sample

AstraZeneca is a global biopharmaceutical company that was created when the Swedish company ‘Astra’ and the British company ‘Zeneca Group’ merged in 1999 (Jerrang Goldberg, 2011). Since then, it has immersed itself into the competitive pharmaceutical market and become a very successful business that specialises in the â€Å"research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals† (AstraZeneca, 2011). PEST Analysis Political Regulations for testing the drugs could change Growing pressure to release more cost-effective drugs Becoming increasingly harder to launch a new drug onto the market because of the regulations enforced by organizations such as the F. D. A. Economical Invested heavily abroad in emerging markets e. g. China and India Increased pressure from shareholders, leads to more mergers and acquisitions Consumers choosing not to try new products Social ( Cultural) There will always be a market for new drugs, e. g. Aging population therefore there is a shift in the drugs needed Animal rights activists could prevent the testing of a new drug to take place Technological Improved IT communications between suppliers and itself Invested heavily in software such as Lean Sigma to improve cycle time efficiency of the drugs Table 1: PEST Analysis Company Overview Porters Five Forces Image 1: Porters Five Forces In 2010, AstraZeneca’s most successful drugs were (Cooper, 2010): 1. Nexium: A drug for heartburn and stomach ulcers 2. Crestor: An anti-cholesterol drug 3. Symbicort: A drug that is used to treat asthma (respiratory drug) 4. Armidex: A breast cancer drug 5. Seroquel: An anti-psychotic treatment (SEROQUEL XR, 2011) Value Chain The value chain was developed by Michael Porter and can be a powerful tool when analysing a company’s organisation and performance. It allows key areas to be highlighted as it offers a quick but thorough overview of a company’s infrastructure allowing one to review it and determine any areas for improvement. The main point of a table such as the one below is to establish whether or not AstraZeneca PLC has any competitive advantages over its competitors. Firm Infrastructure General Management, Compliance, Global Commercial, Accounting, Finance, Human Resources and Corporate Affairs, Operations, Legal, Research and Development, Safety, PR, Quality Management, IT (Drew Fairchild, 2012) Human Resource Management Expatriate Management, effective and relevant training programmes, consistent policies for employees, recruiting and hiring new employees, motivating and rewarding employees Technological Development Increasing efficiency of employees, investment in technologies such as Lean Sigma to reduce manufacturing costs, ensuring specialised training is undertaken before implementing the various technologies, design for a new drug Procurement Restructuring, reviewing the prices of the drugs currently being sold, improving research and development costs, reviewing general and administrative costs, researching more cost effective options for buying high quality raw materials, constant monitoring of performance (Anon. , 2011) Inbound Logistics Storing and handling of raw materials Contact with suppliers Operations Manufacturing processes, research and development, human and animal testing, constant evaluation of products, clinical trials Outbound Logistics Delivery schedule that is efficient, distribution, cost-effective, transportation, fulfilling orders – predicting which products will be in demand, packaging, storage Marketing and Sales Costs, highly trained sales team, identifying target audiences and advertising accordingly, engaging the customers Service Guaranteed quality, instructions on how to fully utilise the product, extensive testing and post launch clinical studies Table 2: Value Chain for AstraZeneca PLC Business Model Key Partners Discovery: MRC Technology Columbia University University of Virginia Karolinska Institutet Merck Clinical development: Nektar (NKTR-118) Forest (Zinforo) Rigel (Fostamatinib) Launched medicines: BMS (Onglyza) Pozen (Vimovo) New Opportunities: Alcon Galderma Three-year collaboration agreement with IMS Health Key Activities Focus heavily on RD Very interested in using technology to maximise efficiency and cut costs. Channels Their customers (being mainly distributors) look towards organizations such as N. I. C. E. (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence), the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) and the FDA to approve the drugs they are interested in purchasing. New products are announced through the media along with statistics of how they compare with similar drugs on the market. Price is a main factor in obtaining customers loyalty as well as quality. Value Proposition Have personalised healthcare (PHC) where they match a patients characteristics to medicines for more effective treatment. (AstraZeneca PLC, 2010) Wide range of drugs available. Key Resources Suppliers Specialist employees, e. g. Dr. Mike Poole Invested heavily in supplier collaboration software from Ariba improved the speed of product development by reducing the time it takes to swap data with RD suppliers by 70%. (Clark, 2011) Use Lean Sigma software to maximise efficiency of manufacturing new drugs. (Johnstone, et al. , 2011) Customer Segments AstraZeneca PLC’s main target audience are healthcare professionals, such as primary care and specialist doctors. Their products are, however, marketed towards the distributors/local representatives as they are the ones that buy the products in bulk and sell them on. (Anon. , 2012) Customer Relationship Pharmaceuticals are rated highly and AstraZeneca is considered a reliable brand for quality Implemented a click-to-chat technology that allows consumers to contact a live AstraZeneca customer service representative (AstraZeneca US, 2011) They take all their complaints seriously. Cost Structure A lot of money is put towards research and development – Last year alone AstraZeneca invested almost $59 billion for only five drugs to be approved. This meant that each drug technically cost them nearly $11. 8 billion each. (Silverman, 2012) Buying start-up companies so that they can launch their drugs on to market Revenue Streams Revenue from sales New software used improves the infrastructure of the company, saving them money by being more efficient Shares Table 3: Business Model for AstraZeneca PLC Current News AstraZeneca to Sue FDA Over Anti-Psychotic Drug, Seroquel There has been a lot of hype surrounding the current law suit AstraZeneca has filed against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concerning the drug ‘Seroquel’ as it is a problem that is affecting a lot of the large pharmaceutical companies – patents are expiring and smaller drug companies are therefore releasing generic forms of the drugs immediately. Seroquel is marketed as an anti-psychotic treatment for patients with depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia (SEROQUEL XR, 2011). For AstraZeneca, this is a drug that generates a lot of revenue, approximately ? 1 billion in annual sales (Cooper, 2012), and the expiration of their patent has created a sudden niche in the US market that many smaller pharmaceutical companies are looking to take advantage of. AstraZeneca has a lot invested in this drug therefore the law suit would seem personal; however, they also have a very legitimate reason for going to court. The injunction they have applied for to ban the FDA from approving the generic forms of Seroquel is based on the fact that these rival companies cannot carry all of the warnings for the drug on their labels. This is due to AstraZeneca including extra information after post launch clinical studies which is still protected by exclusivity agreements potentially until the 2nd December 2012 (Cooper, 2012). Obviously it is illegal to omit possible side effects of any drug which then makes this a very serious point as it is believed the generic forms would also have the risk of â€Å"high blood sugar† and â€Å"suicidal thoughts† (Cooper, 2012) associated with the chemical quetiapine fumarate (SEROQUEL XR, 2011). Despite this, if the FDA chooses to ignore the Citizen Petitions supplied by AstraZeneca and gives its final marketing approval for the generic forms of Seroquel, the company’s revenue for 2012 will plummet a lot more than anticipated. This is because of increased competition due to loss of exclusivity (Cooper, 2012). Share Buy-Backs AstraZeneca is planning to purchase almost ? 3 billion worth of stock by the end of this year, almost double what they bought in 2010. This is a clear indicator that the fact that their patents expiring and increased generic competition is hurting the business and this is the only option they have of keeping their investors happy. Unfortunately if AstraZeneca’s free cash flow generation is less than the amount of shares they buy-back, their gearing will increase by a huge amount as they will be forced to use the money on their balance sheet (Staton, 2012). The pharmaceutical industry is a much harder market to succeed in these days because of increased competition. There is a high demand for new, innovative products that take time to develop, approve and release and although AstraZeneca is working on new products, they do not always come to fruition. Recently they have had a major project declined by the FDA that they co-developed with Bristol-Myers Squibb: Dapagliflozin which lowers the blood glucose levels of consumers with diabetes. AstraZeneca has also attempted to protect another one of its best selling drugs, Crestor, from generic-drug companies but has been denied by the US Court of Appeals as the generic forms of the drug would only be used for â€Å"treatments not covered by the patents† (Decker, 2012). These are not an ideal situation to be in as with the market constantly changing and new drugs always being in demand it would not be hard for another pharmaceutical company to surpass AstraZeneca if they had a patent for an important drug. Acquisitions of start-up companies and their products is an option that AstraZeneca will begin to fully utilise as it saves them money on the research and development, although they are still heavily invested in their own RD, and, in turn, makes them a lot of money. Share buy-backs are clearly an indicator that AstraZeneca is reshaping the business in order to focus their efforts mainly on RD as this is an area that the company relies on to increase revenue and climb the ranks in the pharmaceutical industry. Financial/Investment Analysis Financial Ratios (Investopedia ULC, 2012) Return on Shareholders Funds (ROSF): This is a percentage of money made that is returned to the shareholders as equity. Return on Capital Employed (ROCE): The ROCE is the amount of money that is being made from the company’s total capital. Liquidity Ratio: A company’s ability to meet its short-term debts. It is more desirable to have a larger value of the ratio as it then indicates that the company has a higher margin of safety and will be able to pay the debts. Current Ratio: This is a liquidity ration that determines whether or not a company can use their current assets to pay off their current liabilities. A positive number is desired as this means that a company is succeeding in meeting their short-term financial obligations. Interest Cover: How easily a company can pay interest on a debt they have already accumulated. Gearing: When a company requires outside funds then gearing occurs. Gearing is the comparison of a company’s long-term debt and its equity capital. We can then apply these definitions to the following table: 2010 2009 2008 2007 ROSF (%) 47. 29 52. 31 54. 56 54. 03 ROCE (%) 27. 90 28. 99 25. 94 24. 36 Liquidity Ratio 1. 40 1. 25 1. 09 0. 99 Current Ratio 1. 50 1. 35 1. 21 1. 12 Interest Cover 11. 62 10. 02 7. 59 8. 46 Gearing (%) 70. 01 89. 78 116. 53 150. 73 Table 4: AstraZeneca PLC Financial Ratios (FAME, 2010) As can be seen from the table, both ROCE and ROSF have dropped from 2009 to 2010. However, it is still clear that AstraZeneca PLC is turning a profit as they are keeping their shareholders happy with a good percentage of money being returned to them and the company itself is making money therefore it can be assume that management is doing well. Their liquidity ratio has increased steadily through 2007-2010 which is a great indicator that AstraZeneca is able to meet its short-term debts and is gradually acquiring a higher margin of safety because of it. Coupled with the current ratio, this has also increased across the presented timeframe further illustrating that AstraZeneca is successful enough to meet its short-term financial obligations. The interest cover has increased from 2009 to 2010, showing that the company is earning more money making it easier for them to interest charges on their debt. However, the interest cover for 2007-8 suggests that AstraZeneca experienced some financial difficulties which could return in the future, despite its interest cover being as high as it now. This could be prevented by ensuring employees are happy with their work environments so they do not strike and continuously developing new products or modifying products. Although gearing has decreased significantly across the four years, it is still very high indicating that AstraZeneca will have the long-term debt it has accumulated for quite a while as the company is not generating enough revenue to pay it back quickly. This could be because they are choosing to spend their money on research and development rather than paying off their debt. Instead of relying on product revenue, AstraZeneca could look into consulting emerging companies and selling their expertise while building a relationship with them that they could use in the future. This generates more money for the company and offers a potential business partner. Overall AstraZeneca would not be a bad company to invest in as its debt it slowly decreasing and it has a history of gaining a profit at the end of the year therefore shareholders would not lose money. Industry Forces and the Market When analysing how well AstraZeneca PLC is doing, we must always consider their competitors. Competition is what motivates a company to perform to the best of their ability and deliver products of a high quality at a cost effective price, it is what drives them to discover and develop new drugs and meet all of their customers’ needs. As can be seen from the list below, AstraZeneca is ranked sixth in the pharmaceutical industry at the moment, however, with companies merging and patents expiring (Roth, 2011), AstraZeneca could attempt to climb the ranks with new, innovative ideas that fill a niche in the current market. List of the Top 10 Pharmaceutical Companies in 2011 (Roth, 2011) 1. Pfizer 2. Novartis AG 3. Merck Co. 4. Sanofi-Aventis SA 5. GlaxoSmithKline 6. AstraZeneca 7. Johnson Johnson 8. Eli Lilly Co. 9. Abbott Laboratories 10. Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical companies are ranked in terms of revenue; whichever company generates the most revenue at the end of the financial quarter is considered the most successful within the pharmaceutical industry. With this in mind it is then interesting to consider the share prices for these companies and how the analysts would advise us to invest. Company Name Share Price ($) Change/% Change P/E Ratio EPS Novartis AG (NVS) 54. 79 +0. 48/+0. 88% 14. 37 3. 78 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 45. 18 +0. 17/+0. 38% 27. 55 1. 634 AstraZeneca (AZN) 45. 11 +0. 37/0. 83% 6. 13 7. 30 Sanofi-Aventis SA (SNY) 38. 90 +0. 07/+0. 18% 13. 74 2. 8265 Merck Co (MRK) 38. 03 -0. 03/-0. 08% 18. 84 2. 02 Pfizer (PFE) 21. 94 +0. 03/+0. 14% 17. 22 1. 272 Table 5: Leading Pharmaceutical Companies Investment Analysis (InvestorGuide, 2012) As can be seen from the table, although AstraZeneca is ranked sixth in the world, its share price is greater than the leading pharmaceutical company, Pfizer. This is a good sign as it shows that their reorganisation within the company has started to come to fruition and more people will be interested in buying shares. This is one of the main goals because, as can be seen by then they will have more money at their disposable to put towards further research and development. It can also be seen that their share price is increasing as the change is positive showing that AstraZeneca is gradually climbing up the market and becoming more and more valuable. When looking to invest in a company it is always better to get a second opinion and consult the analyst charts. The chart below was taken from ‘InvestorGuide’ and shows the personal belief of 7 different analysts and their recommendations history. Current 1 Month Ago 2 Months Ago 3 Months Ago Strong Buy 2 1 1 1 Moderate Buy 0 0 0 0 Hold 4 5 6 6 Moderate Sell 1 1 0 0 Strong Sell 0 0 0 0 Mean Recommendation 2. 57 2. 86 2. 71 2. 71 Table 6: Recommendations for AstraZeneca Shares (InvestorGuide, 2012) As can be seen, 2 analysts recommend now is the best time to invest in AstraZeneca shares. Despite it appearing to be the best time to buy shares in 3 months, when compared with the 4 analysts who would prefer one ‘held’ their money and the other who thinks the best one could do with their share is sell it with hardly any profit, it definitely does not seem like it would be worth the risk anymore. However, another way of looking at it is that the share is currently at a relatively low price; therefore one could potentially save money by investing now. With this frame of mind, we must consider AstraZeneca’s share price history. Graph 1: Share Price Performance, Based on the Figures from (AstraZeneca PLC, 2007-2012) The website used for the investment analysis of AstraZeneca and its competitors is based on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) therefore the graph also reflects the American market so that it is more comparable. It is clear that, in general, from 2007 to 2012 AstraZeneca PLC’s share price has kept within a small range (approximately $55-45) despite there clearly being drops in the market, especially during 2009. Therefore, with the share price currently being at the lower end of this range it would be considered a good thing to invest now, however, one will probably not get any returns on it immediately as, from what can be seen in the graph above, AstraZeneca’s share price is more likely to get worse before it gets better again. This trend is unfortunate but at least it can be assumed that in the end, one would not lose that much money before they started making money. Technology Importance of Technology For AstraZeneca’s Chief Information’s Officer, Rich Williams, technology is the future (NGP, 2009). In 2009, he completely transformed AstraZeneca’s business infrastructure and made it the efficient and cost effective business it is today. By employing one type of technology and implementing it throughout the company he was able to reduce information systems (IS) costs by 30% and allow more time and money to be focused on research and development. Lean Sigma: Useful? Lean sigma is a type of software that is used to improve the performance of a company relative to its competitors using business improvement tools (Romeo, n. d. ). It is considered to be quite controversial as some specialists argue that it stifles creativity within a business due to the rigorous process improvement the technology commands, whereas others rightly point out that the software clearly helps companies save money by reducing manufacturing times (Johnstone, et al. , 2011). To understand both arguments, we must consider them separately. Lean sigma is considered a bad thing because it is perceived that the software could potentially inhibit an environment in which innovative ideas are able to flourish as it is not able to think outside the box. However, in practice it has been proven that despite the nature of the idea, the programme has been able to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the drug making cycle (Johnstone, et al. , 2011). The graph below summarises the stage of innovation (Johnstone, et al. , 2011) that are completed before every new drug is released: Image 2: The Stages of Innovation, Based on (Johnstone, et al. , 2011) It is important to note the â€Å"Learning and Feedback† arrows that are incorporated into earlier phases of the diagram in order to produce the best quality product. This method is used to enhance the â€Å"probability of success† and gain, at the end, the best possible solution to launch the new drug on to society. Software such as lean sigma, is perfect for such a thing as it â€Å"improves the speed, quality and cost of manufacturing and service industries†, and overall reduces cycle time by 50% (Johnstone, et al. , 2011). Therefore, to conclude, lean sigma is helping AstraZeneca improve their process excellence by saving them money on their manufacturing process which is in turn having a positive impact on their research and development. Lean sigma is a great programme to use to take ones business to the next level and it is a technology that AstraZeneca has done well to invest in (Johnstone, et al. , 2011). The Future AstraZeneca’s plans for the future are mainly hinged on an international reorganisation of the company, intended to make sure their focus is directed towards research and development. It has always been a main focus for the second largest drug-maker as RD is what most of its money gets spent towards, which can be seen in the ‘Business Model’. The pharmaceutical company has stated that it will begin to reduce the number of disease areas it focuses on so that it can in turn produce a more specialised, better drug. Not only will it reduce the scope of its research, AstraZeneca will also be focusing a lot of energies towards gaining external collaboration. This will reduce costs for possible failures of RD as they will be able to collaborate with an emerging market that already has the basis of a great patent. It will also continue to use business improvement programmes such as lean sigma to ensure the company performs to the best of its ability and has a more flexible approach to the projects it decides to take on (Anon. , 2011). Overall, AstraZeneca is adjusting to their current situation well and has made the right decisions regarding how to bring their company forward. With changes like these, they will be able to focus more on what they specialise in, RD, and deliver a quality product to their consumers. Conclusion SWOT Analysis Strengths AstraZeneca is an innovative company that is ranked sixth in the world of all the pharmaceutical companies Total turnover from 2007-10 has generally increased showing it is a successful company (FAME, 2010) It has vested interest in all areas of drug therapy and are consistently releasing relevant drugs for the market Weaknesses As patents are expiring they are not releasing suitable replacements therefore generic forms of the drugs are dominating the market They are not releasing enough new drugs, despite the ones they do release being very relevant Opportunities Has made many partnerships with other companies Buying back shareholders for a quick turn around Restructuring the business to focus on their RD Threats Generic forms of their drugs are becoming a serious threat to their revenue Generic forms can be offered to people who are not private practice