Roche has posted lower net profit of 9,535 million Swiss Francs (CHF) during the year ended December 2014 from 11,373 million CHF in the previous year, a de-growth of 16 per cent. Lower net profit is due to impairments and restructuring costs. Its sales increased marginally to CHF 47.5 billion from CHF 46.8 billion. Core earnings per share worked out to CHF 14.29 as against CHF14.27 in the last year. Board proposes dividend increase of 3 per cent to 8 CHF for 2014.

Pharmaceutical division’s sales improved slightly to CHF 36.7 billion from CHF 36.3 billion, driven by oncology medicines and strong growth in immunology. New products Perjeta and Kadeyla for HER2-positive breast cancer, made a significant contribution to growth, more than offsetting declining sales of Xeloda. The sales of Actemra/RoActemra moved up by 23 per cent and that of Xolair went up by 25 per cent. Pharma sales in US increased by 6 per cent and that in Europe moved up by 3 per cent.

Diagnostics division’s sales increased to CHF 10.8 billion from CHF 10.5 billion due to professional diagnostics and molecular diagnostics. Sales were 10 per cent higher in Tissue Diagnostics and one per cent higher in diabetes care. Sales growth was driven by Asia-Pacific and EMEA. Its sales in China increased by 23 per cent. Roche made a number of acquisitions in Diagnostics, IQuum, Inc., and Genia Technoloogies, Inc., in 2014 and Ariosa Diagnostics Inc., in early 2015.

Severin Schwan, CEO, said, “ We made good progress in 2014 with solid growth in both divisions driven by our newly launched medicines and diagnostic tests. In addition, we have now made ten targeted acquisitions to complement our existing portfolio in Pharma and Diagnostics. Initial demand for Esbriet, a breakthrough medicine in lung fibrosis which was recently launched in the US following the InterMune acquisition, is strong. In Diagnostic, we successfully launched the cobas 6800/8800 platform, which brings the automation of molecular testing to a new level. With our strong product portfolio and pipeline we are well positioned for the future.”

Two new indications were approved for cancer medicine, Avastin, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and cervical cancer, whilst Gazyvaro was approved for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia in Europe. Esbriet, the new acquired idiopathic lung fibrosis medicine, was granted FDA breakthrough therapy designation in July and subsequently launched in October.