New Products Soar And Old Stand Their Ground As Roche Heads Off Biosimilar Threat

New products accounted for 90% of sales growth at Roche in 2018, as the company shrugged off the effects of biosimilar competition to its cancer franchise in Europe. Multiple sclerosis drug Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) hit CHF2.4bn in sales in its first full year on the market, shy of consensus but confirming its status as Roche’s most successful new product launch ever.

This, added to a faster than expected start out of the blocks for hemophilia product Hemlibra (emicizumab), helped more than offset the hit felt by its older blockbuster biologicals, Herceptin (trastuzumab) and in particular Rituxan