Roche Chairman Christoph Franz remains confident the Swiss drugmaker can offset revenue declines from patent expired medicines with new drugs, according to an interview published on Sunday in the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag.
“When I look at the number of medicines we have launched over the past two years, then we’re on the right track,” Franz told the newspaper. “We’ve had six medicines approved by regulators over this time period.”
Among the drugs Franz includes in this group are multiple sclerosis drug Ocrevus, cancer immunotherapy Tecentriq and hemophilia medicine Hemlibra, all of which are expected to have peak sales of well over $1 billion annually.
Roche is counting on these and other medicines to help replace revenue from its $20 billion-per-year trio of Avastin, Herceptin and Rituxan whose patents have expired or will shortly, exposing them to cheaper competition.
Franz also told the newspaper that the United States, where prices for drugs are among the world’s highest, is supporting the bulk of the research and development cost for new, innovative drugs.
Asked if U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge this year to tackle high drug prices will have an impact, Franz acknowledged that there could be a hit to the “innovation premium” that U.S. insurers and other funders pay for new drugs in America.
Radical changes to the model governing how medicines are reimbursed in the United States would likely lead to job cuts, he said.
“To put it bluntly, if the Americans were to adopt the Swiss price system, Roche would have to cut thousands of research jobs, also in Switzerland,” Franz said.
By John Miller
Source: Reuters
Giovanni Caforio, the former CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb, is set to become the next board chairman of Novartis, which on Tuesday proposed the pharmaceutical industry veteran as its pick to replace Joerg Reinhardt in the role next year. Reinhardt has served as Novartis’ chair since 2013 and plans to retire when his 12-year term ends in 2025.
GE HealthCare has raised the curtain on two ultrasound systems equipped with artificial intelligence programs designed to assist in diagnosing conditions in women’s health, including obstetric exams. The Voluson Signature 20 and 18 imaging systems include AI tools capable of automatically identifying and annotating measurements of fetal anatomy.
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry have revealed a new sustainable method of manufacturing complex molecules that could reduce waste produced during drug production. The method published in Nature Chemistry could help to prevent severe side effects caused by drugs that can exist as enantiomers.
