On July 22, Roche released its 2021 semi-annual report, with a total revenue of CHF 30.7 billion, an increase of 8% year-on-year (calculated by cer, the same below), of which the pharmaceutical business revenue was CHF 21.7 billion, down 3% year-on-year, mainly due to biosimilar competition and the COVID-19 pandemic; and the diagnostics business revenue was CHF 9 billion, an increase of 51% year-on-year.
Roche's pharmaceutical business in China reached CHF 1.7 billion and diagnostics revenue of CHF 1.22 billion in the first half of the year. Together, it accounts for 9.5% of its total global revenue.
In the pharmaceutical business, Roche's "old troika" mabthera/rituxan (rituximab), avastin (bevacizumab) and herceptin (trastuzumab) fell by 41%, 40% and 35% respectively due to the continuous impact of biosimilars, but the sales revenue of new products (launched after 2012) increased by 30% year-on-year, which has exceeded 50% of the revenue of the pharmaceutical business, and the revenue in the first half of the year reached 11 billion Swiss francs.
pd-L1 atenilizumab (tecentriq) grew strongly to CHF 1.599 billion (+29%) in patients with first-line small cell lung cancer, first-line triple-negative breast cancer, and first-line hepatocellular carcinoma. The adc drug kadcyla (enmetrytolizumab) has increased globally (9.59 chf, +19%) driven by indications for adjuvant breast cancer. The first-in-class anti-CD79b antibody-conjugated drug porvy grew by 17 percent to CHF 0.94 billion, driven by diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (dlbcl).
In addition to the oncology business, Roche also has heavy products to achieve excellent performance. ocrevus, a cd20 monoclonal antibody, is the first drug approved to treat both RRMS and PPMS multiple sclerosis types, and only needs to be injected every 6 months after completing the initial load administration. The product's market share in the U.S. has grown to 28 percent. With sales of CHF 2.438 billion (+23%), roche had the highest sales in the first half of the year. In addition, the Roche BTK C481s inhibitor fenebrutinib treatment of multiple sclerosis has been pushed to phase III clinical trials.
Actemra/roactemra (tocizumab), recommended by multinational guidelines for the treatment of severely ill covid-19 patients, saw a significant increase in sales revenue of 17% to CHF 1.642 billion. Alecensa (aletinib) as a first-line drug for alk+nsclc also achieved revenue of CHF 631 million with a 20% increase.
Roche's blockbuster bispecific antibody hemlibra (amyclizumab) has covered all types of hemophilia A patients, with 29% of patients receiving treatment in Europe and the United States, and sales reaching CHF 1.393 billion (+45%) in the first half of the year.
Roche's first small molecule that targets RNA, evrysdi (rispramine), is used to treat spinal muscular atrophy, and has been listed in many countries such as Europe, the United States, Japan, and China since its approval in August 2020, with sales reaching CHF 243 million in the first half of 2021 and nearly 20% (1,800 cases) of patients in the United States receiving treatment.
Schedule: Sales of Roche's main products in 2020 (CHF 100 million)