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(Sharecast News) - Roche reported a 5% fall in first-quarter sales to CHF 14.7bn (13.88bn) on Thursday, as the strength of the Swiss franc and generic competition for older drugs weighed on reported results, though sales rose 6% at constant exchange rates and the company maintained its full-year outlook.
Chief executive Thomas Schinecker defended the performance, telling CNBC it was "a question on how you look at the reporting," noting that sales increased 9% in dollar terms.
Roche said growth in its key US market was driven by asthma drug Xolair, hemophilia treatment Hemlibra and blood cancer medicine Polivy, while its pharmaceuticals and diagnostics divisions posted constant-currency growth of 7% and 3% respectively.
The group said it continued to expect mid-single-digit sales growth in 2026 and high single-digit growth in core earnings per share at constant exchange rates.
Schinecker also said Roche would continue to expand in the United States despite currency pressures.
"We spend most of our money in the US, and we have most of our debt in the US, we've just recently bought another company in the US," he said.
"We will continue to invest in the US, and we don't see that as a major issue."
Roche last year pledged to invest $50bn in the US over five years as part of a broader push to expand manufacturing capacity.
Investors were encouraged by management's comments on Roche's pipeline, particularly breast cancer drug giredestrant, which Schinecker said could win US approval in the final months of the year, paving the way for a launch before year-end.
He reiterated that the pill could become one of Roche's biggest products, with the company counting on new medicines and dealmaking to offset billions of francs in revenue at risk from cheaper copycat drugs by 2029.
The Swiss drugmaker said it was also pushing ahead in multiple sclerosis and obesity.
This week, Roche said an experimental multiple sclerosis pill roughly halved relapse rates in two late-stage studies, although safety concerns persisted after more deaths were reported in the treatment arm than in the control group.
Schinecker said Roche was moving "as fast as we can" to file the drug with regulators.
In obesity, the company is aiming to build a meaningful position in the fast-growing weight-loss market with experimental drug CT-388, with Schinecker recently arguing there remained substantial room for growth because current usage was still low.
Shares in Roche rose after the update, with investors also taking some comfort from improving sales of eye drug Vabysmo, which grew 13% in the quarter after a weaker showing late last year.
At 1245 CEST (1145 BST), shares in Roche Holding were up 2.3% in Zurich at CHF 320.20.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.