AstraZeneca sees $4B in COVID vaccine sales as revenue soars

LONDON (AP) — AstraZeneca has recorded a big jump in revenue as it begins to take a profit from its coronavirus vaccine for the first time. The company recorded full-year revenues of $37.4 billion, an increase of 38% from the year before at constant exchange rates. Part of the boost came from $4 billion in sales of its COVID-19 vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford. Despite rising revenue, AstraZeneca reported a pre-tax loss of $265 million due to costs from its purchase of U.S. drug company Alexion Pharmaceuticals and new drug research. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said in November it would begin to take a “modest” profit from the COVID-19 shot, which it had been providing “at cost.”