US fears knock £3bn off AstraZeneca value

Nearly £3bn (€4.2bn) was wiped off the value of pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca today after a US safety official raised concern over one of its key drugs.

David Graham, of the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), told the US Senate Finance Committee that a closer review of anti-cholesterol drug Crestor was needed amid fears that it causes acute kidney failure.

Astra shares fell 7% while GlaxoSmithKline dipped 4% after Mr Graham said its Serevent treatment for asthma should be looked at for increased risk of death among patients. Both companies rejected the claims their drugs were unsafe.

Dr Graham, who is associate director for science in the US FDA’s Office of Drug Safety, also claimed regulators should look again at three other treatments by drugmakers Roche, Pfizer and Abbott Laboratories.

His comments come at a difficult time for the drugs industry after US manufacturer Merck was forced to withdraw its Vioxx arthritis drug when it was linked to heart problems.

Investor confidence in AstraZeneca was also shaken by the provisional rejection of its new blood-thinning drug Exanta by US regulators in September amid concerns that it can cause liver failure.

AstraZeneca launched a spirited defence of its product and said it was the first time that the FDA had indicated major concerns regarding Crestor.

The comments by Mr Graham were “inconsistent with past public statements from the FDA and our understanding of its current view of the safety and efficacy of Crestor”, it said.

Crestor was trialled on more than 12,000 patients before it was unanimously approved by the FDA’s advisory board last June.