Roche’s Breast Cancer Strategy Paying Off, But Diversification Difficult

Roche’s key HER2 breast cancer franchise boasted a stellar sales performance in the first-quarter – rising 27% in the U.S. alone – and the rest of the cancer business followed suit. But, the loss of schizophrenia candidate bitopertin casts a shadow on the firm’s plans for neuroscience.

Roche again has underscored its leadership position in the oncology space by unveiling strong first-quarter sales of its new cancer medicines Perjeta and Kadcyla, but the firm also announced another failed trial for its schizophrenia candidate bitopertin, setting back its ambitions of expanding in other areas.

The company’s overall sales, measured at constant exchange rates, grew 5% in the period, thanks partly to the impressive performance...

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