Profit after tax dropped 17.5 percent to $1.246 billion in the three months to the end of September compared with the outcome in the third quarter of 2012, AstraZeneca said in a results statement. Group revenue fell 6.0 percent to $6.25 billion.
"As expected, our financial performance this year reflects the ongoing impact from the loss of exclusivity for several key brands," CEO Pascal Soriot said in a statement.
AstraZeneca recently lost market exclusivity for schizophrenia treatment Seroquel IR and heart-failure medication Atacand in many markets, and for anti-cholesterol drug Crestor in Canada. In the third quarter, AstraZeneca agreed to buy US-based cancer drugs company Amplimmune as it seeks to bolster its flagging pipeline of new products.
The company is meanwhile cutting 5,050 jobs, or about 9 percent of its current global workforce, over the next three years as it faces increased competition amid patent expiries.
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