Astex Pharmaceuticals reports significant growth in 2011

Astex Pharmaceuticals has published its financial results for the 2011 business year, a period marked by significant transformations for the organisation.

Total revenues for 2011 stood at $66.9 million (42.37 million pounds), compared to $53 million during 2010, following the merger between Astex Therapeutics and SuperGen over the summer.

Subsequent to the completion of this acquisition in July 2011, parent company SuperGen was able to greatly expand its product portfolio, before rebranding to its current company name in September.

Expected drivers of growth in 2012 include continuing sales growth for its drug Dacogen, as well as its ongoing partnerships with GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Janssen and Novartis.

Dr Harren Jhoti, president of Astex Pharmaceuticals, said: "Within the first half of 2012 we expect to complete the optimisation of lead drug candidates arising from our internal discovery efforts."

Earlier this year, the company restructured its working alliance with GlaxoSmithKline by transferring research work and assets generated under the Climb epigenetic project back to its partner.