Swiss drugmaker Roche reported an 11% increase in first-half profit, boosted by strong sales of its cancer drugs and some new additions to the product portfolio.
The Basel-based firm said its net profit for the first six months of the year increased to CHF6.65bn (US$7.14bn; €5.38bn).
Group sales rose 5% to CHF23.3bn due to continued demand for Roche’s main cancer drugs, as well as for its clinical laboratory diagnostic products.
The Pharmaceuticals division posted a 6% increase in sales to CHF18.2bn as demand for cancer therapies MabThera/Rituxan, Avastin and Herceptin remained strong in the first half. Sales of Avastin were particularly good, rising 12% to CHF3.1bn, due to its increased use in ovarian cancer in Europe and colorectal cancer in both Europe and the US. Avastin is also being used more frequently to treat lung and breast cancer in a number of different countries, such as Japan.
The HER2 breast cancer franchise is also showing good growth (+11%) following the recent launches of Perjeta in Europe and Kadcyla in the US.
The division’s performance was also lifted by a 33% increase in sales of rheumatoid arthritis medicine Actemra/RoActemra due to growing monotherapy use, and a 79% rise in sales of influenza treatment Tamiflu following a severe flu season in North America at the start of the year.
Roche has 68 new molecular entities in its pharmaceuticals pipeline
Roche’s CEO Severin Schwan said: ‘Roche delivered strong operating results in the first half of 2013, driven by our existing portfolio, recently launched cancer medicines Perjeta and Kadcyla, as well as continued growth in the clinical laboratory business.’
Roche further strengthened the outlook for its haematology franchise with encouraging data in June on obinutuzumab (GA101) and the Bcl-2 inhibitor RG76013, which it is developing with AbbVie.
GA101 and RG7601 are part of Roche’s next-generation of targeted medicines for blood cancers such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). GA101 won Breakthrough Therapy Designation and Priority Review from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in CLL on the back of positive phase III results. The FDA’s decision on marketing approval is expected by the end of December.
Roche has also filed GA101 for approval in Europe.
The firm plans to move RG7601 into late-stage development after Phase I data showed an 84% overall response rate in patients with relapsed or refractory CLL and an overall response rate of 53% in patients with relapsed or refractory NHL. RG7601 is designed to promote a natural cell death process known as apoptosis.
Roche’s anti-PDL1 antibody RG74464 is now in mid-stage development for non-small cell lung cancer after promising Phase I data.
The firm is also investigating RG7446 in other cancer types, both alone and in combination with other medicines, such as Avastin and Zelboraf.
The main regional growth contributors were the US (+10%) and the seven key emerging markets (+11%) as a result of higher use of the main oncology products and Tamiflu.
Sales in Europe rose 1% despite continued price pressure as demand for Roche’s major products, including Avastin, recently launched skin cancer treatment Zelboraf and RoActemra continued to grow.
Japan posted a sales increase of 2% on the back of solid performances by osteoporosis medicine Edirol and Avastin.
Schwan added that the firm would continue to focus on innovation and has 68 new molecular entities in its pharmaceuticals pipeline and 55 key diagnostics platforms and tests in development.