Roche Q3 sales dip as top-drug Avastin falters

Roche reported a 3 per cent drop in third-quarter sales on Thursday, as growth in its top-selling drug Avastin slowed further, failing to give the Swiss firm the boost it needed after a series of product development setbacks. Sales in the three months slipped to 11.5 billion Swiss francs ($12.01 billion), also hit by a sharp fall in demand for flu drug Tamiflu since last year's swine flu pandemic abated.

"Numbers are about 1-2 per cent behind expectations," Vontobel analyst Andrew Weiss said. "Deviation is likely a mix of pricing pressure and lower demand in pharma." However, the group, which does not post quarterly profit figures, reaffirmed its full-year outlook, saying it still expects to meet its 2010 goal of double-digit core earnings per share growth in local currencies. Roche, which has seen its market postion slip after a series of setbacks for cancer drug Avastin, has embarked on a cost-cutting campaign to offset pipeline disappointments as well as rising price pressures in the industry. The group said its group-wide review of structures and processes was well under way and that measures would be announced before the end of the year.