Roche's 2005 sales increase to 35B SwFr while net income drops 5% to 6.7B

Swiss drug major Roche says that its sales grew to 35.5 billion Swiss francs ($27.7 billion), an increase of 19% in local currencies in 2005, ahead of Lehman Brothers forecasts. The firm also reported net income of 6.7 billion Swiss francs, a 5% decline on 2004.

The group points to several key achievements which underpin its strong profitability. These include a 25% increase in its global pharmaceutical sales revenues made up of a 16.9 billion franc contribution from its prescription pharmaceuticals business, 6.6 billion francs from sales of majority-owned Genentech products and 3.7 billion francs from Japanese subsidiary Chugai group.

Among Roche's best performing products is the influenza drug Tamiflu (oseltamivir) which, with sales of 1.5 billion francs, outperformed analysts' estimates. Increasing public awareness of a potential influenza pandemic and the adoption and stockpiling of Tamiflu by numerous world governments as a first line of defence, coupled with firm's efforts to find production partners around the world (Marketletters passim) has seen demand for the drug soar.