Roche is a Swiss-based biotechnology company, specialising in diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.
In diagnostics, Roche has solutions for diagnosis kits for cardiometabolic, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases. Diagnosing diseases early or before they occur in susceptible people, can improve treatments choices, treatment outcomes, reduce suffering, and increase lifespans in patients.
In pharmaceuticals, Roche has treatments for haematology (blood diseases), oncology (cancer), ophthalmology (eye diseases), respiratory, and women’s diseases, amongst others.
In summary, for the comparative 9 months to end September; Roche revenues were down 6% to ƒ44.1bn (Swiss francs), with Pharmaceuticals up by 1% and Diagnostics down by 25%; in 2023 versus 2022. The main reasons for the decline and low growth in revenues is due to almost zero demand for Covid-19 related diagnostic kits and treatments.
Encouragingly, the uptake of new medicines and diagnostics showed strong growth in both the divisions. Roche also have launches of several products in the fourth quarter and into next year.
- Vabysmo, a treatment for specific conditions leading to a loss or deterioration of vision was launched in 2022 and is expected to become a blockbuster drug, with sales exceeding ƒ2bn in 2023.
- Polivy, launched in 2019, and used in the treatment of lymphoma (cancer) has also shown significant in sales growth in 2023.
- Roche’s Elecsys IL-6 is used in diagnosing sepsis in neonates (new borns) allowing early treatment that can prevent deaths in approximately 84% of cases.
Roche has invested in technology and use AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning) tools in several areas of their business, including in research and development, clinical development, manufacturing, and commercialisation.
Biotechnology businesses are subject to strict regulations and are required to get approvals from every country’s regulatory authority to be able to sell their products in those countries. Work in research and development for specific mdeicines can take many years and there is no guarantee of success.
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