Roche Holding reported higher sales for the third quarter on growth in its pharmaceuticals and diagnostics units, as the drugmaker works to secure approval for its new breast-cancer and multiple-sclerosis pills.
Roche reiterated its full-year guidance, which calls for increases in both sales and core earnings per share when excluding currency movements. Write to Adrià Calatayud at [email protected] The Swiss group said Thursday that third-quarter sales came to 16.13 billion Swiss francs ($19.57 billion) compared with 14.92 billion francs for the same period last year. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had forecast quarterly sales at 15.78 billion francs. Roche said sales grew 7% when excluding currency changes, with increases in both its pharma and diagnostics divisions. Higher sales for top-selling drugs such as Ocrevus for multiple sclerosis, Hemlibra for hemophilia, and Vabysmo for eye diseases helped Roche’s core pharma business deliver top-line growth of 8%, the company said. Meanwhile, the group’s diagnostics division posted a 5% rise in quarterly sales, with demand for core lab and pathology systems offsetting a hit from China’s healthcare-pricing reforms.
The company said it is fully prepared to launch its giredestrant breast-cancer pill later this year, and is nearing approval of its fenebrutinib tablet for multiple sclerosis.
