Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche (SWX: ROG) released its Q3 2022 financial report last week, showing group sales up 2% year-on-year (YOY) at constant exchange rates (CER) during the 9-month period to CHF 47.0 billion (USD 46.8 billion). The growth rates for Q1, Q2, and Q3 were +11%, +0%, and -6% respectively. The Q3 decline was primarily due to significantly lower sales of COVID-19-related products, including SARS-CoV-2 tests, immunomodulator Actemra (tocilizumab), and antibody cocktail REGEN-COV/Ronapreve (casirivimab + imdevimab), the latter now considered ineffective against the Omicron variant.
Divisional Performance
Broken down by division, Roche’s pharmaceuticals unit saw global sales remain flat at CHF 33.2 billion (USD 33.0 billion) with 0% YOY growth. In contrast, the diagnostics business grew by 6% YOY to CHF 13.8 billion (USD 13.8 billion).
Top Performing Drugs
The drugs contributing the highest sales during the 9-month period included multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) with CHF 4.4 billion (USD 4.4 billion) in sales, up 17% YOY; breast cancer therapy Perjeta (pertuzumab) with CHF 3.1 billion (USD 3.1 billion), up 5%; hemophilia drug Hemlibra (emicizumab) with CHF 2.8 billion (USD 2.8 billion), up 28%; and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1)-targeting Tecentriq (atezolizumab) with CHF 2.7 billion (USD 2.7 billion), up 10%. However, four core products facing biosimilar erosion—Actemra (tocilizumab), Herceptin (trastuzumab), Avastin (bevacizumab), and MabThera/Rituxan (rituximab)—saw sales drop by 23%, 18%, 29%, and 20% YOY respectively.
China and Asia-Pacific Performance
While China results were not broken out for the Pharma or Device divisions, Roche highlighted strong growth momentum for hemophilia drug Hemlibra and breast cancer therapy Perjeta in China. In the Asia-Pacific region, diagnostics sales reportedly rose by 28% YOY to CHF 4.5 billion (USD 4.5 billion), accounting for 33% of global sales for the unit, on par with the EMEA region. Asia made significant contributions in Core Lab and Point of Care sales, with SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen tests remaining the key driver for the latter category.-Fineline Info & Tech
