AstraZeneca sales hit hard by generic competition

LONDON (Reuters) – AstraZeneca’s sales tumbled 21 percent in the second quarter, punished by generic competition to its best-selling antipsychotic medicine Seroquel and pressure on health spending in Europe. Continued supply chain disruptions triggered by problems with a new IT system at a plant in Sweden added to the group’s woes and the shares fell 1.8 percent by 04.30 a.m. EDT in a flat market for European drug stocks. …