AstraZeneca Rides Oncology Momentum With Blockbuster and New Drugs

AstraZeneca AZN is one of the leading drugmakers in the oncology space. Oncology sales (comprising around 43% of AstraZeneca‘s total revenues) rose 18% in the second quarter of 2025, generating $6.3 billion in sales. In the first half of 2025, the Oncology segment generated almost $12 billion in revenues, which rose 16% year over year. The strong oncology performance was driven by medicines such as Tagrisso, Lynparza, Imfinzi, Calquence and Enhertu (in partnership with Daiichi Sankyo). AstraZeneca also has a profit-sharing deal with Merck MRK for Lynparza.

AstraZeneca is working on strengthening its oncology product portfolio through label expansions of existing products and progressing oncology pipeline candidates.

A key new cancer drug approval was that of Truqap for HR-positive, HER2-negative (HR+ HER2-) breast cancer. The drug has seen a robust launch, recording sales of $302 million in the first half of 2025, driven by demand growth in the second-line biomarker-altered population. AstraZeneca expects further growth for Truqap to be driven by increased uptake within the PIK3CA population and additional global launches. AstraZeneca and partner Daiichi’s drug, Datroway, was approved by the FDA for HR+ HER2- breast cancer in January and for EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in June this year. Datroway witnessed encouraging early launch signals in the United States for the breast cancer indication in the first half, recording sales of $14 million.

Important late-stage oncology candidates in AstraZeneca’s pipeline are camizestrant (HR+ HER2- metastatic breast cancer), volrustomig (several types of cancers), sonesitatug vedotin (advanced or metastatic gastric or GEJ adenocarcinoma) and surovatamig (previously untreated follicular lymphoma). Regulatory applications seeking approval of Imfinzi for early-stage gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers are under regulatory review.

AstraZeneca expects continued growth of its oncology medicines in the second half, particularly Tagrisso, Enhertu, and Merck-partnered Lynparza and Imfinzi, despite the incremental impact of the Part D redesign. Our estimates for AstraZeneca’s total oncology portfolio suggest a CAGR of around 11.1% over the next three years.

Competition in the Oncology Space

Other large players in the oncology space are Pfizer PFE, Merck and Bristol-Myers BMY.

Pfizer boasts a strong portfolio of approved cancer medicines like Xtandi, Lorbrena, and the Braftovi-Mektovi combination. Pfizer’s oncology revenues grew 9% in the first half of 2025. The addition of Seagen in 2023 also strengthened its position in oncology by adding four antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) — Adcetris, Padcev, Tukysa and Tivdak. Pfizer also has a robust pipeline of cancer candidates with a focus on multiple modalities, including small molecules, ADCs and immuno-oncology biologics. 

Merck’s key oncology medicines are PD-L1inhibitor, Keytruda and PARP inhibitor, Lynparza, which it markets in partnership with AstraZeneca. Keytruda, approved for several types of cancer, alone accounts for around 50% of Merck’s pharmaceutical sales. Keytruda’s sales rose 6.6% to $15.1 billion in the first half of 2025.

Bristol-Myers’ key cancer drug is PD-L1inhibitor, Opdivo, which accounts for around 20% of its total revenues. Opdivo’s sales rose 9% to $4.82 billion in the first half of 2025.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research