The China Mail - Pharma giant Roche sees income soar in first half

It also reported that four potentially "practice-changing" drugs -- to treat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, haemophilia and an antibiotic to fight a drug-resistant bacteria strain -- had advanced to the final stage of clinical development.

Net income jumped 17 percent to reach 7.8 billion Swiss francs ($9.85 billion), while the Basel-based group confirmed its full-year outlook.

Its sales exceeded forecasts, rising four percent to 30.9 billion Swiss francs -- or a seven-percent hike excluding currency effects, the world leader in cancer treatments said in a statement.

Roche has two branches: pharmaceuticals and diagnostics.

Its pharmaceuticals division saw sales rise 10 percent, at constant exchange rates, to 24 billion francs, primarily thanks to five "growth driver" medicines, including for breast cancer and asthma, which achieved total sales of 10.6 billion francs.

That was 1.7 billion more than during the first half of 2024.

Sales in its diagnostics division, however, were flat at constant exchange rates, at 6.95 billion francs.

"We received numerous important approvals and reported positive data in disease areas with high unmet medical need," said Roche chief executive Thomas Schinecker.

"Over the past six months, we have made significant progress in our pipeline and advanced four potentially practice-changing therapies into the final phase of clinical development," he said.

These are NXT007 in haemophilia A, trontinemab in Alzheimer's disease, prasinezumab in early-stage Parkinson's disease, and zosurabalpin, "a novel antibiotic that could become the first in over 50 years to tackle a type of bacteria that has become resistant to most other treatments".

For the full year, Roche said it was still targeting mid-single-digit sales growth excluding currency effects, equivalent to around five percent growth.

In April, Roche announced plans to invest $50 billion in the United States over the next five years, following in the footsteps of Swiss rival Novartis, with US President Donald Trump's tariff war fuelling uncertainty in the sector.

The United States is a key market for the pharmaceutical industry, representing around half of sales in Roche's pharmaceutical division.

Roche said the $50 billion investment was expected to create more than 12,000 new jobs, including nearly 6,500 construction jobs.

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