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Tamiflu-maker sees strong sales
26 Apr 2006
Swiss drugs group Roche has reported a strong jump in
sales, boosted by global demand for its flu treatment Tamiflu.
Roche said group sales rose by 22% to 7.74bn Swiss francs ($6bn; £3.4bn)
in the first three months of the year. Sales of Tamiflu,
which many countries are stockpiling in case of an outbreak of bird flu,
jumped by 37% compared with the first quarter of 2005. Roche added that
demand for its cancer drugs, of which it is the world's leading maker,
had also driven sales. Confidence Cancer treatment sales rose by 52% year-on-year,
led by demand for the firm's Avastin treatment, which is currently approved
for colon cancer but has been shown to be effective on breast and lung
cancers.
"The confidence is there having seen a strong first quarter," said Bill
Burns, chief executive of Roche's pharmaceuticals division. He said Roche
was still on course to deliver annual double-digit sales growth. The firm
has estimated that sales of Tamiflu to governments could reach 1.2bn francs
this year. The surge in sales comes despite a report published in December
last year by the New England Journal of Medicine, which suggested that
the drug may become ineffective as the virus could develop more quickly
than expected.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4945328.stm |
