8. AstraZeneca - Top 15 R&D Budgets

Who: AstraZeneca

Based: United Kingdom

2006 Pipeline Budget: $4.32 billion (€2.95B)

2007 Pipeline News: Recently, AstraZeneca endured some harsh criticism from investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort, which said that AZ is likely to be the worst-performing pharma company in the upcoming years. The basis for this bleak assessment? The company's three biggest sales generators will get generic competition in the near future, and eight patents expire over the next eight years. The analysts weren't cheered by products coming up the pipeline, either.

AstraZeneca has taken steps to secure its future. The company shelled out a whopping $15.6 billion dollars for MedImmune, then merged last year’s purchase—Cambridge Antibody Technology—with MedImmune in order create a major new biologics company under the MedImmune name. The company can also look forward to Crestor's approval as an atherosclerosis treatment. AstraZeneca has 31 Phase III drugs, 19 drugs in Phase II and 39 in Phase I.

Pending Approval
> Crestor - Atherosclerosis
> Nexium - NSAID GI side effects – symptom resolution
> Nexium - NSAID GI side effects – ulcer healing
> Seroquel - Bipolar maintenance
> FluMist - Influenza virus
> Symbicort - COPD

Phase III
> AZD6140 - Arterial thrombosis
> Saxagliptin - Diabetes
> Dapagliflozin - Diabetes
> Zactima - NSCLC
> Recentin - NSCLC and CRC
> Recentin - Recurrent glioblastoma
> ZD4054 - Hormone resistant prostate cancer
> Motavizumab - RSV prevention
> Atacand - diabetic retinopathy
> Atacand Plus - 32/12.5 mg, 32/25 mg for hypertension
> Crestor - Outcomes CHF
> Crestor - Outcomes End Stage Renal Disease
> Nexium - Peptic ulcer bleeding
> Nexium low dose aspirin combination - Low dose aspirin
associated peptic ulcer
> Seroquel XR - Generalised anxiety disorder
> Seroquel XR - Major depressive disorder
> Seroquel XR - Bipolar mania
> Seroquel XR - Bipolar depression
> Faslodex - 1st line advanced breast cancer
> Faslodex - Adjuvant

Full Pipeline Site: Link