AstraZeneca records $4 billion in COVID-19 vaccine sales

AstraZeneca recorded a $4 billion increase in revenue Thursday as the company begins to turn a profit from its coronavirus vaccine.

The drug company saw full-year revenues of $37.4 billion in 2021, a 38 percent increase from the previous year, spurred by $4 billion in sales from the vaccine, the Associated Press reported. 

AstraZeneca also recorded a pre-tax loss of $265 million as a result of its purchase of U.S. drug company Alexion Pharmaceuticals, according to the AP. 

Chief executive Pascal Soriot told the news outlet that AstraZeneca had “delivered on our promise of broad and equitable access to our COVID-19 vaccine with 2.5 billion doses released for supply around the world,” adding that the company would raise shareholders’ dividends for the first time in a decade by 10 cents to $2.90. 

AstraZeneca said in November that it would start taking a “modest” profit from its COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer and Moderna have also seen their bottom lines boosted from their coronavirus vaccines.

The company predicted that total sales will spike to a “high teens percentage” in 2022 but that profits from the COVID-19 shot will decrease by “a low-to-mid twenties percentage,” the AP reported.