Roche reported falling sales in the first three months of the year, as the strength of the Swiss franc and competition from generics for some of its older drugs weighed heavily on the drugmaker.
First-quarter sales came to 14.7 billion Swiss francs ($18.7 billion), down 5% year-on-year – but up 6% on a constant currency basis.
The appreciation of the Swiss franc against many currencies, especially the US dollar, has had a significant impact on the results reported in Swiss francs compared to regular exchange rates, Roche said.
The Swiss franc is down 12% against the US dollar in 2025 and is down 1% so far this year.
CEO Thomas Schinecker defended the company’s quarterly results, saying it was “a question of how you look at reporting,” and that although the Swiss franc appreciated, sales reported in US dollars rose 9%.
“We spend a lot of our money in the US, and we have a lot of our debt in the US, we just bought another company in the US,” he told Squawk Box Europe.
“We will continue to invest in the US, and we don’t see that as a big problem.”
Shares rose 2% in morning trade in Zurich, adding to a 12-month gain of 18%.
The performance of European pharma stocks over the past 12 months.
Roche, through its US subsidiary, Genentech, is among the pharmaceutical companies that last year struck a deal with the Trump administration to lower the price of their drugs for Americans..
In exchange, the companies agreed to a three-year grace period during which their products would not face Trump’s planned tariffs on pharmaceuticals – on the condition that drugmakers continue to invest in US manufacturing.
Last April, Roche said it would invest $50 billion in the US over the next five years, creating 1,000 jobs at the company and 11,000 more to support new American manufacturing capabilities.
Obesity is gambling
It comes as the pharmaceutical giants are under pressure as the sector faces exceptional losses at the end of the decade, when older drugs will begin to face competition from generics.
Like some of its peers, Roche is looking at acquisitions to boost future sales, as well as to develop domestic medicines.
The results so far have been mixed. On Wednesday, it said an experimental pill to treat multiple sclerosis nearly halved the number of relapses in two late-stage trials. However, safety concerns remained as more patients died on the drug than in the placebo group.
Roche plans to submit the drug for approval to the US Food and Drug Administration by the middle of the year, and analysts at Barclays say they see “significant risk” despite safety concerns.
Roche is also betting big on future entry into the lucrative weight-loss market, aiming to become a top-three player with its experimental drug CT-388, along the way. Novo Nordisk again Eli Lilly, which is currently in charge of the market.
CEO Schinecker told Germany’s Handelsblatt last month that Roche aims to gain double-digit market share in weight loss.
The weight loss market is still in its early days, Schinecker said. “If you look at what percentage of people actually use these drugs, it’s still a very small percentage, so there’s still an opportunity to help people who are struggling with weight,” he said, and flagged the broader health benefits from GLP-1 drugs beyond weight loss, even at low doses.
In the US, Roche’s most important market, sales grew 5% at constant exchange rates, driven by growth in asthma drug Xolair and continued uptake of hemophilia drug Hemlibra and blood cancer treatment Polivy.
Demand was strong in both its pharmaceuticals and diagnostics divisions, which grew 7% and 3%, respectively, the company said.
It maintained its full-year guidance, targeting mid-single-digit sales growth through 2026. It expects core earnings per share in the high single-digit range at constant exchange rates.
