In 2017, Roche Group sales rose 5% to CHF 53.3 billion. Core operating profit grew 3% and Core EPS increased 5%, reflecting the good underlying business performance. On an IFRS basis net income decreased 9% at CER. The IFRS result includes charges for the impairment of goodwill and intangible assets and the amortisation of intangible assets.
Sales in the Pharmaceuticals Division increased 5% to CHF 41.2 billion. Recently launched medicines Ocrevus, Tecentriq and Alecensa contributed CHF 1.4 billion of new sales. This represents 65% of the division’s growth. Perjeta also continued its strong sales increase. This growth was partially offset by lower sales of Tarceva, and Avastin. In the US, sales increased 10%, led by Ocrevus, Tecentriq, Xolair, and MabThera/Rituxan. In Europe, sales declined 2%, mainly due to lower MabThera/Rituxan sales driven by competition from biosimilars. In the International region, sales grew 4%, led by the Latin America and Asia–Pacific subregions. In Japan, sales increased 3%, with the main growth driver being Alecensa.
Diagnostics Division sales increased 5% to CHF 12.1 billion. Centralised and Point of Care Solutions (+7%) was the main contributor, led by the growth of its immunodiagnostics business (+13%). In regional terms, growth was driven by Asia–Pacific (+15%), with continued strong growth in China (+21%). Sales increased 2% in EMEA2, 10% in Latin America, and were stable in North America.
Important approvals in Pharmaceuticals
In 2017, the US FDA approved two new medicines, namely Ocrevus for the treatment of relapsing and primary progressive forms of multiple sclerosis and Hemlibra for people with haemophlia A with factor VIII inhibitors.
Health authorities also approved a number of line extensions for existing products including the US approvals of Perjeta for adjuvant (after surgery) treatment of HER2-positive early breast cancer at high risk of recurrence, in combination with Herceptin and chemotherapy as well as full approval of Perjeta for neoadjuvant use.
Additional line extensions granted by the FDA in the fourth quarter were Alecensa for first-line treatment in ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), Zelboraf in Erdheim-Chester disease, Gazyva for untreated advanced follicular lymphoma and Avastin for Glioblastoma in adult patients whose cancer has progressed after prior treatment.
In the EU, approval was granted for Alecensa as a monotherapy for the first-line treatment of adult patients with anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive, advanced NSCLC. In January 2018, EMA approved Ocrevus for the treatment of both the relapsing and the primary progressive forms of multiple sclerosis and Hemlibra was granted a positive opinion by the CHMP.
Positive clinical trial results for Roche medicines
In 2017, results of several key clinical studies were announced, including studies from key areas: Roche announced that the phase III IMpower150 study met its co-primary endpoint of PFS. The study demonstrated that the combination of Tecentriq and Avastin plus chemotherapy (paclitaxel and carboplatin) provided a statistically significant reduction in risk of disease worsening or death compared to Avastin plus chemotherapy in the first-line treatment of people with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer.
The phase III IMmotion151 study met its co-primary endpoint of investigator-assessed PFS and demonstrated that the combination of Tecentriq and Avastin provided a statistically significant reduction in the risk of disease worsening or death (PFS) in people whose disease expressed the PD-L1 (programmed death-ligand 1: Expression ≥1%) protein compared with sunitinib for the first-line treatment of people who have advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma.
Roche announced positive results from the phase III Haven 3 study evaluating Hemlibra in adults and adolescents (aged 12 years or older) with haemophilia A without factor VIII inhibitors. The study met its primary endpoint, showing a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in t...
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