AstraZeneca says fourth-quarter revenue fell 13 percent

Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca says fourth-quarter revenue fell 13 percent after the cholesterol treatment Crestor lost patent protection in the United States.

Total revenue dropped to $5.59 billion from $6.40 billion in the same period a year earlier. Crestor sales fell 52 percent to $631 million as generic competitors ate into its market share. AstraZeneca says Crestor is the last of its so-called blockbuster drugs — those with annual sales over $1 billion — to lose patent protection before new treatments start coming to market.

AstraZeneca has been cutting costs so it can devote more resources to cancer drugs. Sales of cancer treatments rose 30 percent to $930 million, driven by the introduction of the lung cancer drug Tagrisso.

Net income rose to $1.84 billion from $808 million.