Roche reports Q1 group sales CHF 14.4B vs. CHF 15.3B last year

Group sales grew by 21 at constant exchange rates, driven by the strong growth of newer medicines and diagnostics. Excluding COVID-19-related products, sales increased by 7%. Going forward, there will be no further material impact of COVID-19 sales decline. Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker: “We had a strong start into the year, with both our divisions reporting high single digit growth in their base business – excluding COVID-19 sales. After this quarter, the COVID-19-related impact on sales is largely behind us. The appreciation of the Swiss franc versus most currencies impacted sales reported in Swiss francs compared to the same period last year. The uptake of our eye medicine Vabysmo continues its momentum. We are pleased about the US approval of Xolair as the first and only medicine for multiple food allergies. Further, we recently received the US approval for Alecensa in early-stage lung cancer. With an unprecedented 76% reduction in the risk of disease recurrence or death versus chemotherapy, Alecensa significantly improves upon the standard of care for this specific form of lung cancer.We are confident of growing our Group sales in the mid single digit range this year (at constant exchange rates) and therefore we confirm our outlook for 2024.”