AstraZeneca: The $5 Billion Pipeline Hole Did Not Stay Open Long

Wainua's July failure erased more than $30 billion of AstraZeneca's market value and raised questions about a pipeline investors had learned to trust. The full tozorakimab results are more interesting than the earlier headline. COPD attacks fell by 29% to 34% in two large Phase III trials. A 23% reduction among patients with low eosinophil counts could open a part of the COPD market that existing biologics do not serve well. I rate AstraZeneca a Buy at $159.64. My 12-month target is $180, with the dividend lifting the potential total return to roughly 15%. On July 9, AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) investors got the kind of morning they had almost stopped expecting from this company. Wainua missed. The medicine, developed with Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS), failed the main