In addition to these anti-cancer agents, the Roche oncology portfolio includes a comprehensive collection of medicines that can help improve the quality of life of cancer patients: Bondronat (for prevention of skeletal events in patients with breast cancer and bone metastases, hypercalcaemia of malignancy), Kytril (for chemotherapy and radiotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting), Neupogen (for cancer-related neutropenia), and NeoRecormon (for anaemia in various cancer settings). CERA is the most recent demonstration of Roche's commitment to anaemia management. Other oncology products include Furtulon (for colorectal cancer) and Roferon-A (for hairy cell and chronic myeloid leukaemia, Kaposi's sarcoma, malignant melanoma, renal cell carcinoma). The Roche Group's cancer medicines generated sales of more than 7.7 billion Swiss francs in 2004.
In addition to the medicines, Roche is developing new diagnostic tests that will have a significant impact on disease management for cancer patients in the future. With a broad portfolio of tumour markers for prostate, colorectal, liver, ovarian, breast, stomach, pancreas and lung cancer, as well as a range of molecular oncology tests, Roche will continue to be the leader in providing cancer-focused treatments and diagnostics.
The unmatched Roche oncology portfolio as well as an extensive external innovation base through collaborations with companies and academia is what makes it possible for Roche to provide more effective cancer therapies.
In the United States, Herceptin, MabThera (Rituxan), Avastin and Tarceva are marketed either by Genentech alone or together with its partners Biogen Idec Inc. (MabThera) and OSI (Tarceva). Outside of the United States, Roche and its Japanese partner Chugai are responsible for the marketing of these medicines.
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As the world's biggest biotech company and an innovator of products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people's health and quality of life. Roche is the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer and transplantation, a market leader in virology and active in other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases, inflammation, metabolic disorders and diseases of the central nervous system. In 2006 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 33.3 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 8.7 billion Swiss francs. Roche has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai, and invests approximately 7 billion Swiss francs a year in R&D. Worldwide, the Group employs about 75,000 people. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.roche.com.
Disclaimer: Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements
This document contains certain forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as 'believes', 'expects', 'anticipates', 'projects', 'intends', 'should', 'seeks', 'estimates', 'future' or similar expressions or by discussion of, among other things, strategy, goals, plans or intentions. Various factors may cause actual results to differ materially in the future from those reflected in forward-looking statements contained in this document, among others: (1) pricing and product initiatives of competitors; (2) legislative and regulatory developments and economic conditions; (3) delay or inability in obtaining regulatory approvals or bringing products to market; (4) fluctuations in currency exchange rates and general financial market conditions; (5) uncertainties in the discovery, development or marketing of new products or new uses of existing products, including without limitation negative results of clinical trials or research projects, unexpected side-effects of pipeline or marketed products; (6) increased government pricing pressures; (7) interruptions in production; (8) loss of or inability to obtain adequate protection for intellectual property rights; (9) litigation; (10) loss of key executives or other employees; and (11) adverse publicity and news coverage. The statement regarding earnings per share growth is not a profit forecast and should not be interpreted to mean that Roche's earnings or earnings per share for any current or future period will necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings or earnings per share of Roche.
End Notes:
-- IARC. GLOBOCAN 2002. Cancer incidence, Mortality and Prevalence Worldwide.
-- F. Shepherd, J. Rodrigues Pereira, T. Ciuleanu. et al. Erlotinib in Previously Treated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, A Trial of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group. N Engl J Med 2005;353:123-32.
For more information, contact: Lester B. Davis (International Communications Manager, Tarceva), Phone: +41-61-688-2078 / e-mail: lester.davis@roche.com. Ann Blumenstock (Resolute Communications), Phone: +44-20-7357-8187 / email: ann.blumenstock@resolutecommunications.com
