Roche reports strong growth in Q1 2016

Roche has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2016, during which it delivered a group sales total of 12.41 billion Swiss francs (8.98 billion pounds).

This represents a year-on-year increase of four percent on a constant exchange rate basis, with its pharmaceuticals division seeing a four percent improvement and the diagnostics business seeing a five percent uplift.

The improved performance was driven by strong sales of its oncology and immunology medicines, as well as immunodiagnostic product demand. The recent decisions by the US Food and Drug Administration to accelerate its review process for the investigational cancer immunotherapy medicine atezolizumab and the multiple sclerosis ocrelizumab were also welcomed.

For 2016 as a whole, the firm expects its sales to grow in the low to mid-single-digit range on a constant exchange rate basis.

Severin Schwan, Roche's chief executive officer, said: "We have started the year with solid growth in both our pharmaceuticals and diagnostics divisions. The marketing applications of important investigational medicines are well underway."