Roche Holding's chief executive said the company is counting on upcoming medicine launches to spur sales growth next year and beyond, as the drugmaker works to secure approvals for new breast-cancer and multiple-sclerosis pills.
Thomas Schinecker, chief executive of the Swiss group, on Thursday signaled the company's investments would shift to countries willing to pay more for medicines, adding that Europe is falling behind the U.S. and China in the innovation race.
Roche's recent string of positive late-stage study results helps position the company for growth in the long run, and anchors its goal to bring to the market up to 20 new medicines by 2030, Schinecker said.
"Based on all the positive data readouts we've had, we also have very good line of sight for growth to the end of the decade and beyond," he said.
The company is also looking elsewhere to fill its drug pipeline, striking a series of licensing agreements over the past few months to secure rights to drugs developed by Chinese companies. The bulk of the company's dealmaking activity in the past four years centered on the U.S. and Asia as Roche sought to tap into their innovation ecosystems, Schinecker said.
"Europe is struggling to keep pace," he added.
Roche put investments in Germany on hold earlier this year in response to the country's recent healthcare reform, and intends to prioritize investments in markets that better reward innovation going forward, Schinecker said.
In parallel, the company continues to advance its own drug pipeline. Roche said it is fully prepared to launch its giredestrant breast-cancer pill later this year, pending authorization from U.S. regulators, and is nearing approval of its fenebrutinib tablet for multiple sclerosis.
Schinecker's comments came as Roche reported a 7% increase in third-quarter sales, excluding currency movements, on growth in its pharmaceuticals and diagnostics units.
Overall, the group's 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.
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.
Roche reiterated its full-year guidance, which calls for increases in both sales and core earnings per share when excluding currency movements.
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