Roche expects sales above industry average, says CEO

Swiss-based Roche is expecting to boost sales above the pharmaceutical industry average, according to its chief executive Franz Humer.

Mr Humer told shareholders at an annual general meeting that he expects sales to be stronger in the second six months of 2006 than in the first half of the year, and predicted that full-year revenues would be up by ten per cent on 2005, Dow Jones reported.

Sales in 2005 grew by 19 per cent to CHF35.51 billion (?15.46 billion), whilst it boosted its operating profit margin to 25.4 per cent, up 2.5 per cent on last year.

But despite the positive results, avian influenza was not far from the agenda. Roche produces Tamiflu ? a drug which many developed countries are stockpiling in the hope that it will defend them against an outbreak of pandemic flu.

Jan van Koeverings, head of global pharma technical operations, told delegates that Roche had laid plans to expand production of the treatment. The company has claimed that it can produce a maximum of 300 million Tamiflu courses.

In order to deal with a pandemic, Roche said that it had struck sub-licences with Chinese and Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers to produce pandemic supplies of Tamiflu ingredients.

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