AstraZeneca says potential US tariffs manageable, faces another China fine

By Maggie Fick and Pushkala Aripaka

(Reuters) - AstraZeneca expects only limited impact from potential U.S. tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, the drugmaker said on Tuesday, asserting it would maintain its 2025 forecasts if the levies end up being in line with other sectors.

The tariffs and their erratic rollout by President Donald Trump have heightened fears of global supply chain disruptions, roiling industries that are heavily focused on the United States, the world's biggest consumer market.

However, AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said in a call with journalists that their shock would be something the company could absorb.

"If tariffs were implemented in the range we have seen recently in other industries on medicines imported from Europe to the U.S., we would remain within the guidance range we indicated for 2025," he said.

Most of the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker's sales come from drugs manufactured either domestically or in Europe, and the company was already shifting some additional manufacturing to U.S. sites, he added.

"It's really something that we are going to manage," he added, noting that only minor volumes of U.S.-made drugs are exported to China, shielding the impact of tariffs in the country's second-biggest market after the United States.

Shares in AstraZeneca fell as much as 5.4% before paring losses to trade down 3.2% at about 102 pounds by 0929 GMT, underperforming London's blue-chip FTSE 100, which rose 0.2%.

Soriot spoke after the company reported total revenue of $13.6 billion for the first quarter, below company-compiled analysts' expectations of $13.8 billion.

Sales of key oncology drugs missed forecasts, impacted partly by changes in U.S. Medicare price negotiations and the transition of rare disease patients from Soliris to newer drug Ultomiris, analysts said.

The company also said it could face a new fine in China of up to $8 million over suspected unpaid taxes related to imports of breast cancer drug Enhertu.

The update on investigations in China comes after it announced in February that it could face a fine of up to $4.5 million over imports of cancer drugs Imfinzi and Imjudo.

Still, core earnings per share of $2.49 beat consensus estimates of $2.27. China accounted for about 12% of overall sales in 2024, while the United States made up 43%.

($1 = 0.7465 pounds)

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru and Maggie Fick in London; Editing by Sonia Cheema, Saad Sayeed and Joe Bavier)