AstraZeneca hits £200bn valuation

AstraZeneca, the most valuable company on the UK stock market, has hit a £200bn valuation for the first time.

The pharmaceuticals giant hit the milestone on Tuesday, when its shares rose by 1% – lifting its market capitalisation up from £198bn to just over £200bn this afternoon.

It was already the largest company listed in London, ahead of energy firm Shell (worth £175bn) and bank HSBC (£119bn).

AstraZeneca’s shares have risen by over 21% so far this year, and nearly tripled over the last decade.

This milestone is vindication for chief executive Pascal Soriot, who fought off a £69.4bn takeover approach from US rival Pfizer in 2014.

AstraZeneca went on to hit Soriot’s ambitious-looking target of boosting revenues by three-quarters over nine years to $45bn. In May, the company laid out the goal of almost doubling this again, to $80bn in 2030.

Under Soriot, AstraZeneca – perhaps best known among the general public for its Covid-19 vaccine – has revamped its drugs pipeline and developed a strong portfolio of cancer, cardiovascular, metabolic, respiratory and rare disease medicines.