Roche showcases R&D pipeline, with 72 NMEs and focus on personalized medicines

At a London investor event this week, Swiss drug major Roche (ROG: SIX) presented an update on its strategy, which continues to be focused on medical innovation and sustainable growth. Through its leadership in personalized health care, Roche says it is uniquely positioned to develop therapies that advance current standards of care and improve people’s lives.

Roche, the world’s leader in oncology, said it has an industry-leading pipeline with 72 new molecular entities (NMEs). As many as 19 late-stage clinical trials are expected to read out over the next 18 months, 12 of which are investigating NMEs. In addition, three NME projects could reach the Lifecycle Investment Point (LIP) to move into late-stage development this year. Despite the promising increase of late-stage projects, Roche intends to keep its R&D budget stable by implementing continued productivity improvements and rigorous portfolio prioritization. It spent more than 8 billion Swiss francs ($8.37 billion) on R&D last year.

“Roche’s strategy is based on developing differentiated medicines and diagnostics in areas of high unmet need that bring true medical benefit to patients,” said Severin Schwan, chief executive of the company. “More than 60% of our pharmaceutical pipeline projects are coupled with the development of companion diagnostics in order to make treatments more effective. The recent launches of our cancer medicines Perjeta (pertuzumab) and Zelboraf (vemurafenib) are examples of the concept of personalized health care becoming reality,” he added.