Happy Thursday,

AstraZeneca has been flying below the local radar in the past couple of years as the UK company works to rebuild its drug pipeline after many of its blockbusters went off patent.

The patent cliff for blockbuster drugs like Crestor and Seroquel cut annual revenues by more than $10 billion. It led to the company cutting back its presence in Delaware with R&D moving over to its Medimmune business in the Washington, D.C. area.

Employment fell to about 1,500 after moving past 4,000 at one point.

There have setbacks along the way in the high-risk business of developing drugs. (See story below)  However, AZ has seen some victories.

One win reported last week involved a late-stage study that bolstered earlier results on the lung cancer drug  Imfinzi.  The PACIFIC study showed that the drug extended the survival rate for patients with small cell lung cancer and tumors that cannot be fully removed.

The Endpoints  newsletter that covers the pharma industry featured the AstraZeneca news as shares of the company stayed near a 52-week high.

In a small, but not insignificant development for  Delaware, the release on Imfinzi carried a Wilmington dateline.

It turns out that despite the changes, north Wilmington remains the U.S. headquarters for AstraZeneca.  And earlier this year,  a small AZ group also moved from northern California to north Wilmington.

The headquarters status is worth mentioning in economic development presentations.

Enjoy your Thursday. The final newsletter for a shortened week returns tomorrow. – Doug Rainey, publisher.