Roche Reports CHF 60.5 Billion Revenue in 2024 with Focus on Oncology and R&D Adjustments

On January 30, Roche announced its financial results for 2024, reporting total revenue of CHF 60.495 billion (approximately $66.4 billion with a conversion rate of 1 CHF = 1.0981 USD), representing a 7% year-on-year growth. However, net income declined to CHF 9.187 billion (about $10.1 billion), a significant drop of 19%.

The company invested CHF 13.042 billion (around $14.3 billion) in research and development, accounting for 21.6% of total revenue. Oncology continued to be the primary focus for R&D, along with substantial investments in immunology, cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic fields.

Roche's pharmaceutical business generated CHF 46 billion (about $50.7 billion), marking an 8% increase, while the diagnostics division saw revenues of CHF 14.3 billion (approximately $15.7 billion), up 7%. The pharmaceutical segment remains the main source of Roche's profits.

The company's pharmaceutical portfolio includes targeted therapies across five key areas: oncology, immunology, neuroscience, hematology, and ophthalmology. The ophthalmology sector showed remarkable growth in 2024, with sales reaching CHF 4 billion, reflecting a 44% increase. All other therapeutic areas also maintained positive growth trajectories.

The drug Vabysmo (faricimab), launched in early 2022, continued to be a major growth driver, with sales of CHF 3.864 billion (about $4.243 billion) driven by increasing demand across all regions. Vabysmo is approved for three major retinal diseases, including wet age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, and retinal vein occlusion.

Looking ahead, Roche's pipeline is robust, featuring 71 new molecular entities (NMEs) and a total of 122 projects. However, the financial report indicated that the company has reduced ten projects in Q4 2024, primarily in early development stages.

Notably, Roche made significant cuts to its TIGIT antibody RG6058 pipeline, including two Phase III trials, two Phase II trials, and one Phase I trial. Several early-stage projects were also removed from the pipeline, including:

1. A Phase I study of the FAP/4-1BB bispecific antibody RG7827 for solid tumors.
2. A Phase I study of the HER2/CD3 bispecific antibody RG6194 for breast cancer.
3. Additional Phase I projects targeting various solid tumors.
4. The TIGIT monoclonal antibody RG6058, which had been the first TIGIT antibody to enter Phase III trials globally.

Roche also removed two Phase II trials for the TIGIT antibody targeting metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and non-small cell lung cancer, alongside two Phase III trials.

In recent updates, Roche faced setbacks with the TIGIT antibody in 2024. The SKYSCRAPER-06 study, which evaluated the combination of tiragolumab, Tecentriq, and chemotherapy against pembrolizumab and chemotherapy for locally advanced non-squamous NSCLC, did not meet its primary endpoint, showing a hazard ratio of 1.27 for progression-free survival.

Currently, Roche's TIGIT antibody pipeline includes five ongoing Phase III studies, focusing on NSCLC, esophageal cancer, and liver cancer. Looking forward, Roche anticipates the potential for over seven new molecular entities with peak sales exceeding CHF 3 billion, along with four additional entities with peak sales between CHF 2 billion and 3 billion.