Roche poised for long-term growth

MANILA, Philippines - Roche is set to strengthen its global leadership position in oncology and to expand in therapeutic areas such as metabolism, inflammation and diseases of the central nervous system.

At its first investor conference following the successful integration of Roche and Genentech, the company highlighted its vision and the strategy that it intends to pursue in order to ensure a stable flow of novel medicines from its rich development pipeline.

“Roche is uniquely positioned to deliver sustainable, long-term growth. Our success derives from the diversity of approaches applied by our Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics R&D centres, which offer outstanding scientific excellence and an unparalleled breadth and depth of expertise in translational medicine and clinical science,” said Severin Schwan, CEO of Roche. “In order to develop more efficacious and safer medicines, we pursue a seamless cooperation between our Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics units from research through to the market to implement Personalised Healthcare as an integral part of our drug development efforts.”

Based on its strong late-stage pipeline which comprises more than 35 additional indications for existing products and ten new molecular entities (NMEs) that all offer the potential to be first- or best-in-class medicines, a new generation of medicines for patients suffering from cancer, metabolic and autoimmune diseases and CNS disorders is expected to expand the current product portfolio.

Building on its leading position in oncology, Roche is developing the next generation of promising anticancer medicines with the goal of improving the chances of survival or cure for cancer patients.

A significant flow of late-stage clinical data results from these innovative anti-cancer compounds is expected from 2011 and beyond. Roche is also developing new formulations of existing cancer medicines such as Herceptin and MabThera/Rituxan that can be administered by more convenient subcutaneous injection instead of intravenous infusion, thereby potentially improving convenience and reducing side effects.

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare and combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. It is the world’s largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS.

Roche’s personalized healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients.

In 2009, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested almost 10 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The group posted sales of 49.1 billion Swiss francs. Genentech of the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group.