By John Miller
ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche (S:ROG) raised its 2018 sales forecast on Thursday, buoyed by a strong first-quarter performance from new drugs including multiple sclerosis treatment Ocrevus.
But ageing cancer drug Rituxan lost its perch as the Swiss company's top seller as rivals' copies gained ground.
Roche, the world's biggest cancer drugs maker, said it now expected a low single-digit percentage rise in sales at constant exchange rates this year, after previously warning revenue could be flat. Excluding tax gains, core earnings per share are forecast to grow broadly in line with sales, it said.
First-quarter sales rose 6 percent at constant exchange rates to 13.6 billion Swiss francs (9.90 billion pounds), compared with analysts' average estimate of 13.3 billion francs in a Reuters poll.
Ocrevus sales easily topped estimates, hitting 479 million francs versus the 406 million forecast in the Reuters poll.
Sales of Rituxan fell 8 percent to 1.7 billion francs, hurt in particular by a 44 percent drop in Europe as copies from rivals ate into its business that is no longer protected by patents.
Avastin sales fell 2 percent to 1.6 billion francs, while Herceptin held its own, rising 2 percent to 1.8 billion francs.
Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan is counting on new medicines like Ocrevus to offset declines from his $21 billion per year trio of older drugs Avastin, Rituxan and Herceptin. So far, his strategy appears to be succeeding, although sales erosion from rivals' copies is accelerating.
"I am particularly pleased with the strong demand for our new medicines, which contributed significantly to our growth," Schwan said. "Based on our performance in the first quarter, we raise the outlook for the full-year.”
Despite Schwan's reassurances, Roche shares have lost nearly 11 percent of their value over the past two years amid scepticism its new drugs will be able to replace its ageing portfolio of cancer drugs.
In addition to Rituxan's continued struggle in Europe against biosimilar copies, analysts could see immunotherapy Tecentriq as a first-quarter blemish, with revenue of 139 million francs lagging the 154 million poll estimate.
The figure was up 29 percent over the same period last year, but barely topped the 132 million francs of the fourth quarter in 2017.
Sales of Hemlibra, approved for haemophilia late last year, came in at 23 million francs, with three quarters of those coming in the United States.