What's Holding This Big Pharma Back?

Updated
What's Holding This Big Pharma Back?

Shares of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca are up a modest 8.5% since the start of 2013, but the company is facing a number of headwinds. Generic statins are eating into the sales of its best-selling cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor, more drugs are set to lose patent protection in the coming years, and there have also been regulatory setbacks this year. For instance, AstraZeneca and its partner Bristol-Myers Squibb failed to get the green light for their type 2 diabetes drug Forxiga in the U.S. and, even though the drug is set to be reviewed by the FDA a second time, may have lost ground to Johnson & Johnson's rival product. Inokana.

The spotlight is shined on these issues in the following segment from the Motley Fool's health-care show Market Checkup. In this video, analysts David Williamson and Max Macaluso discuss the key problems facing this drugmaker today.

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The article What's Holding This Big Pharma Back? originally appeared on Fool.com.

David Williamson and Max Macaluso, Ph.D. have no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Johnson & Johnson. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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