Swiss drugmaker Roche’s first-quarter sales rose a better-than-expected 10 per cent on strong US demand for rapid Covid-19 antigen tests and drugs including Ocrevus against multiple sclerosis as well as Hemlibra against haemophilia. Quarterly sales rose to 16.44 billion Swiss francs (€15.98 billion), up from 14.93 billion Swiss francs in the year-earlier period, the company said on Monday.

That was slightly above a market consensus of about 16 billion francs. The diagnostics division accounted for most of the positive surprise, reporting sales growth of 24 per cent to 5.3 billion francs on usage of its Covid-19 tests and cardiac tests.

Roche reiterated that it expected currency-adjusted 2022 sales to be flat or grow in the low-single-digit percentage range, below last year's 9 per cent gain. It also reaffirmed that sales of Covid-19 medicines and diagnostics would decrease by about two billion Swiss francs this year to about five billion francs.

Ocrevus revenue gained 18 per cent to reach 1.45 billion francs and Hemlibra sales jumped 30 per cent to 853 million francs, offsetting a decline in established off-patent cancer medicines Herceptin, Avastin and Rituxan due to cheaper rival products. – Reuters