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F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...
multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has
shares In financial markets, a share is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation, and can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Share capital refers to all of the shares of an ...
listed on the
SIX Swiss Exchange SIX Swiss Exchange (formerly SWX Swiss Exchange), based in Zurich, is Switzerland's principal stock exchange (the other being Berne eXchange). SIX Swiss Exchange also trades other security (finance), securities such as Swiss government bonds and d ...
. The company headquarters are located in Basel. Roche is the fifth-largest pharmaceutical company in the world by revenue and the leading provider of cancer treatments globally. In 2023, the company’s seat in
Forbes Global 2000 The ''Forbes'' Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world, published by ''Forbes'' magazine. "The Global 2000" annual ranking is assembled by ''Forbes'' using a weighted assessment of four metrics: sales, profi ...
was 76. The company owns the American biotechnology company
Genentech Genentech, Inc., is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It became an independent subsidiary of Roche in 2009. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent center within R ...
, which is a wholly owned independent subsidiary, and the Japanese biotechnology company
Chugai Pharmaceuticals is a drug manufacturer operating in Japan. It is a subsidiary controlled by Hoffmann-La Roche, which owns 62% of the company as of 30 June 2014. The company is headquartered in Tokyo. Osamu Nagayama is the current representative director and c ...
, as well as the United States-based companies Ventana and Foundation Medicine. Roche's revenues during fiscal year 2020, were 58.32 billion
Swiss franc The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the f ...
s. Descendants of the founding Hoffmann and Oeri families own slightly over half of the bearer shares with voting rights (a pool of family shareholders 45%, and Maja Oeri a further 5% apart), with Swiss pharma firm Novartis owning a further third of its shares until 2021. Roche is one of the few companies increasing their dividend every year, for 2020 as the 34th consecutive year. F. Hoffmann-La Roche is a full member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).


History

Founded in 1896 by
Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, later Fritz Hoffmann-von der Mühll (1868 1920), was a Swiss businessman who founded the pharmaceutical company F. Hoffmann-LaRoche & Co. Early life Hoffmann was born in Basel, Switzerland (french: link=no, Bâle) o ...
, the company was known early on for producing various vitamin preparations and derivatives. In 1934, it became the first company to mass-produce synthetic vitamin C, under the brand name Redoxon. During the Second World War, Roche collaborated with the Nazi regime in Germany and used forced labour in its German and Polish-based factories. They also moved all their Jewish employees to the United States to save them from Nazi attention. In 1957, Hoffmann-La Roche introduced the class of tranquilizers known as
benzodiazepine Benzodiazepines (BZD, BDZ, BZs), sometimes called "benzos", are a class of depressant drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. They are prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety disorders, ...
s (with Valium and Rohypnol being the best known members). It manufactures and sells several cancer drugs and is a leader in this field. In 1956, the first antidepressant, iproniazid, was accidentally created during an experiment while synthesizing isoniazid. Originally, it had been intended to create a more efficient drug at combatting tuberculosis. Iproniazid, however, was revealed to have its own benefits; some people felt it made them feel happier. It was withdrawn from the market in the early 1960s due to toxic side-effects. In 1976, an accident at a chemical factory in
Seveso Seveso (; lmo, label= Lombard, Séves ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Monza and Brianza, in the Region of Lombardy. The economy of the town has traditionally been based on the furniture industry. Its name comes from the river of ...
, Italy, owned by a subsidiary of Roche, caused a large
dioxin Dioxin may refer to: * 1,2-Dioxin or 1,4-Dioxin, two unsaturated heterocyclic 6-membered rings where two carbon atoms have been replaced by oxygen atoms, giving the molecular formula C4H4O2 *Dibenzo-1,4-dioxin, the parent compound also known as ...
contamination. In 1982, the United States arm of the company acquired Biomedical Reference Laboratories for US$163.5 million. That company dated from the late 1960s, and was located in
Burlington, North Carolina Burlington is a city in Alamance County, North Carolina, Alamance and Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Are ...
. That year Hoffmann-La Roche then merged it with all of its laboratories, and incorporated the merged company as Roche Biomedical Laboratories, Inc. in Burlington. By the early 1990s, Roche Biomedical became one of the largest clinical laboratory networks in the United States, with 20 major laboratories and US$600 million in sales. Roche has also produced various HIV tests and antiretroviral drugs. It bought the patents for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique in 1992. In 1995, the era of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) was initiated by the United States FDA's approval of Hoffman LaRoche's HIV protease inhibitor, saquinavir. Within 2 years of its approval (and that of ritonavir 4 months later) annual deaths from AIDS in the United States fell from over 50,000 to approximately 18,000. On 28 April 1995, Hoffmann-La Roche sold Roche Biomedical Laboratories, Inc. to National Health Laboratories Holdings Inc. (which then changed its name to
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, more commonly known as Labcorp, is an American healthcare company headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. It operates one of the largest clinical laboratory networks in the world, with a United St ...
).Laboratory Corp of America Holdings · 10-Q · For 3/31/95
SECInfo.com, Filed On 5/15/95, SEC File 1-11353, Accession Number 920148-95-11
Roche acquired
Syntex Laboratorios Syntex SA (later Syntex Laboratories, Inc.) was a pharmaceutical company formed in Mexico City in January 1944 by Russell Marker, Emeric Somlo, and Federico Lehmann to manufacture therapeutic steroids from the Mexican yams called ''cabe ...
in 1994, and
Chugai Pharmaceuticals is a drug manufacturer operating in Japan. It is a subsidiary controlled by Hoffmann-La Roche, which owns 62% of the company as of 30 June 2014. The company is headquartered in Tokyo. Osamu Nagayama is the current representative director and c ...
in 2002. Oseltamivir an antiviral drug used to combat influenza. Roche is the only drug company authorized to manufacture the drug, which was discovered by Gilead Sciences. Roche purchased the rights to the drug in 1996, and in 2005, settled a royalty dispute, agreeing to pay Gilead tiered royalties of 14–22% of annual net sales without adjusting the payments for manufacturing costs, as had been allowed in the original licensing agreement. On 20 October 2005, Hoffmann-La Roche decided to license other companies to manufacture Oseltamivir. Also in 2005, Roche acquired the Swiss company GlycArt Biotechnology in order to acquire technology to afucosylate antibodies; one of its products in development was obinutuzumab, which gained FDA approval in November 2013 for the treatment of
chronic lymphocytic leukemia Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). Early on, there are typically no symptoms. Later, non-painful lymph node swelling, feeling tired, fever, nigh ...
. On 22 January 2008, Roche acquired Ventana Medical Systems for $3.4 billion. On 2 January 2009, Roche acquired Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp. On 26 March 2009, Roche acquired
Genentech Genentech, Inc., is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It became an independent subsidiary of Roche in 2009. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent center within R ...
for $46.8 billion. On 12 March 2009, Roche agreed to fully acquire Genentech, in which it had held a majority stake since 1990, after eight months of negotiations. As a result of the Genentech acquisition, Roche moved its Palo Alto based research facilities to their campus that straddles the border between Clifton, New Jersey and
Nutley, New Jersey Nutley is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 30,143. What is now Nutley was originally incorporated as Franklin Township by an act of the New Jersey Legisla ...
while Roche's United States headquarters, located on the New Jersey site since 1929, was moved to Genentech's facility in
South San Francisco South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is colloquially known as "South City". The population was 66,105 at the 2020 census. ...
. Genentech became a wholly owned
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
group of Roche on 25 March 2009. Roche began vacating the NJ site in 2012, and sold it off in 2016. Roche acquired Medingo Ltd. in April 2010, for $160 million and BioImagene, Inc. in August for $100 million. In 2011, the company received the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering Facility of the Year Award for Process Innovation for Roche's "MyDose" Clinical Supply project. In March 2011, Roche acquired PVT Probenverteiltechnik GmbH for up to €85 million. In July 2010, Roche acquired mtm laboratories AG for up to 190 million EUR. On October, Roche acquired Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $230 million. In December, Roche announced it would acquire Munich-based Verum Diagnostica GmbH, gaining entry to the fastest-growing field in the coagulation diagnostics market. On 26 June 2012, Roche announced the closure of the Nutley/Clifton campus, which was completed in 2013. The property is in the process of remediation. In July 2013, Roche Diagnostics acquired blood diagnostics company Constitution Medical Inc. for $220 million. Later, in September, Genentech announced it would acquire Arrayit Corporation. On 7 April 2014, Roche announced its intention to acquire IQuum for up to $450 million, as well as the rights to an experimental drug (ORY-1001) from Spanish company Oryzon Genomics for $21 million and up to $500 million in milestone payments. On 2 June, Roche announced its intention to acquire Genia Technologies Inc. for up to $350 million. In August 2014, the company agreed to purchase Californian-based pharmaceutical firm InterMune for $8.3 billion, at $74 a share this represents a 38% premium over the final share closing price, as well as Santaris Pharma A/S for $450 million. In December 2014, the company acquired next-generation sequencing processing company Bina Technologies for an undisclosed sum and Dutalys GmbH a developer of next-generation anti-bodies. On 16 January 2015, the company announced that they would acquire Trophos for €470 million ($543 million) in order to increase the company's neuromuscular disease presence. The deal will centre on the Phase II and III
spinal muscular atrophy Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder that results in the loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. It is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and if left untreated it is the most common genetic ...
drug olesoxime (TRO19622). In April 2015, Roche acquired CAPP Medical, and its chief development of technology for cancer screening and monitoring via the detection of circulating tumour DNA. In August, the company announced its intention to acquire GeneWEAVE, Inc. for up to $425 million in order to strengthen its microbial diagnostics business. Days later the company acquired Kapa Biosystems, Inc. for $445M, focussing on next generation sequencing and polymerase chain reaction applications. In October 2015, the company acquired Adheron Therapeutics for $105 million (plus up to $475 million in milestone payments). In January 2016, the company announced it would acquire Tensha Therapeutics for $115 million upfront, with $420 million in contingent payments. In January 2017, the company acquired ForSight VISION4. In June, the company acquired the diabetes management platform, mySugr GmbH for an undisclosed price. In November Roche acquired Viewics, Inc. In late December the company announced it would acquire Ignyta Inc, expanding its global oncology business. In February 2018, Roche announced it would acquire Flatiron Health, a business specialising in US cancer data analytics, for $1.9 billion. In June of the same year the company announced it would acquire the outstanding shares of Foundation Medicine for $2.4 billion ($137 per share). Later in September Roche announced its intention to acquire Tusk Therapeutics for up to €655 million ($759 million) expanding Roche's oncology pipeline. Tusk announced that the anti-CD38 antibody it is developing will be spun off to form a new company, Black Belt Therapeutics. In late November, the company announced that Genentech would acquire Jecure Therapeutics, gaining access to Jecure's portfolio of NLRP3 inhibitors developed to fight inflammatory diseases like non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis. In February 2019, the business announced it would acquire gene therapy company, Spark Therapeutics, for ($114.50 per share) adding Spark's gene therapy portfolio to its previous acquired assets. Spark has an already approved treatment for
Leber's congenital amaurosis Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a rare inherited eye disease that appears at birth or in the first few months of life. It affects about 1 in 40,000 newborns. LCA was first described by Theodor Leber in the 19th century. It should not be co ...
,
Luxturna Voretigene neparvovec, sold under the brand name Luxturna, is a gene therapy medication for the treatment of Leber congenital amaurosis. Leber's congenital amaurosis, or biallelic RPE65-mediated inherited retinal disease, is an inherited disord ...
– priced at per patient. The offer to acquire Spark Therapeutics was extended to May 2019 after Roche was unable to garner majority support from Spark shareholders. A second gene therapy-related action came in December with the acquisition of non-United States rights to an investigational duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy developed by
Sarepta Therapeutics Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. () is a medical research and drug development company with corporation, corporate offices and research facilities in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1980 as AntiVirals, , archiveurl = http://ww ...
. In November, Roche acquired Promedior and its lead treatment – PRM-151 – for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, for $390 million upfront and another $1 billion in milestone payments. In March 2020, the Roche Diagnostics division reached a significant milestone with the FDA-approval of its high-volume Sars-CoV-2 diagnostic test, capable of analysing 1,400-8,800 samples within 24h on the proprietary Cobas 6800/8800 molecular testing system. In May the company announced it had acquired US-based Stratos Genomics for an undisclosed amount. In September, the business acquired Ireland-based Inflazome, for €380 million, gaining control of its NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors. In March 2021, Roche announced it would acquire GenMark Diagnostics for $1.8 billion. Under the terms of agreement, Genmark diagnostics will become a subsidiary and the principal operations will continue to remain in Carlsbad, California. In September, the company announced it would acquire German biotech group, TIB Molbiol, enhancing its molecular diagnostics operations. In September 2022, Roche acquired Good Therapeutics at a cost of $250M for its PD1-regulated IL-2 receptor agonist program. In July 2023, Roche partnered with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth $2.8 billion for the development of a hypertension drug. In December 2023, Roche acquired Carmot Therapeutics, an anti-obesity drug developer, for $2.7 billion. In October 2023, Monte Rosa Therapeutics and Roche signed a strategic cooperation and licensing agreement for the discovery and development of molecular adhesive degradators (MGD) to combat cancer and neurological diseases. The partnership includes Monte Rosa’s QuEENT discovery engine and Roche Holding expertise. Also Monte Rosa will receive $50m as an upfront payment and additional payments that will depend on the pre-clinical, clinical, commercial stages and sales, as well as multi-level royalty system and may exceed $2 billion. In March 2024, it was announced Roche had sold Genentech's site in Vacaville, California to the
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...
pharmaceutical company, Lonza for $1.2 billion.


Family

The Hoffmann-La Roche family is Switzerland's richest and one of the most secretive families. Many members of the family don't carry the last name Hoffmann anymore. Some are known as Oeri,
Michalski Michalski (; feminine Michalska; plural Michalscy) is a Polish surname. It may refer to: * Adam Michalski (born 1988), Polish volleyball player * Aenne Michalsky (1908–1986), Austrian operatic soprano * Anna Jagaciak-Michalska (born 1990), Polis ...
,
Faber-Castell Faber-Castell AG is a manufacturer of pens, pencils, other office supplies (e.g., staplers, slide rules, erasers, rulers)Faber-Castell InternationalOffice Products and art supplies,Faber-Castell InternationalProducts for FineArts and FineWriting ...
, Fabre, Zivtins, Schmid or Duschmalé.


Acquisition history

*Hoffmann-La Roche **Biomedical Reference Laboratories **
Syntex Laboratorios Syntex SA (later Syntex Laboratories, Inc.) was a pharmaceutical company formed in Mexico City in January 1944 by Russell Marker, Emeric Somlo, and Federico Lehmann to manufacture therapeutic steroids from the Mexican yams called ''cabe ...
**
Chugai Pharmaceuticals is a drug manufacturer operating in Japan. It is a subsidiary controlled by Hoffmann-La Roche, which owns 62% of the company as of 30 June 2014. The company is headquartered in Tokyo. Osamu Nagayama is the current representative director and c ...
**
454 Life Sciences 454 Life Sciences was a biotechnology company based in Branford, Connecticut that specialized in high-throughput DNA sequencing. It was acquired by Roche in 2007 and shut down by Roche in 2013 when its technology became noncompetitive, although ...
** Roche Diagnostics ***Spring BioScience Corp *** Ventana Medical Systems ***mySugr GmbH ***Viewics, Inc ***Flatiron Health ***Stratos Genomics **Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp **
Genentech Genentech, Inc., is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It became an independent subsidiary of Roche in 2009. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent center within R ...
***Tanox, Inc ***Arrayit Corporation ***Seragon ***Jecure Therapeutics **Medingo Ltd **BioImagene, Inc. **PVT Probenverteiltechnik GmbH **MTM laboratories AG **Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. **Verum Diagnostica GmbH **Constitution Medical Inc. **IQuum **Genia Technologies Inc. **InterMune **Santaris Pharma A/S **Bina Technologies, Inc. **Dutalys GmbH **Ariosa Diagnostics ** Trophos **CAPP Medical **GeneWEAVE BioSciences, Inc. **Kapa Biosystems, Inc. **Adheron Therapeutics **Tensha Therapeutics **ForSight VISION4 **Ignyta Inc ** Foundation Medicine, Inc. **Tusk Therapeutics ** Spark Therapeutics **Promedior **Stratos Genomics **Inflazome **GenMark Diagnostics **TIB Molbiol **Good Therapeutics **Telavant **Carmot Therapeutics


Financial data


Divisions

Roche has two major divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Roche Diagnostics manufactures diagnostic equipment and reagents for research and medical diagnostic applications. Internally, it is organised into five major business areas: Roche Applied Science, Roche Professional Diagnostics, Roche Diabetes Care, Roche Molecular Diagnostics and Roche Tissue Diagnostics ( Ventana). The main location for Roche Professional Diagnostics is in Rotkreuz, Switzerland. All business areas except Roche Applied Science focus on health care applications, targeting either physicians, hospitals and clinics, or consumers. Applied Science targets research settings in academia and pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.


Products

Hoffmann-La Roche develops drugs used for cancer treatment, against virus diseases and for treatment of metabolic diseases. The company is the world's largest spender in pharmaceutical R&D. Drugs produced by Roche include: * Accutane/RoAccutane ( isotretinoin), for severe (nodular) acne vulgaris - no longer sold under Accutane brand name but is still available as RoAccutane, other brand names and Isotretinoin generics. * Actemra/RoActemra ( tocilizumab), for rheumatoid arthritis. * Actimmune ( interferon gamma), for chronic granulomatous disease, later sold to Connetics Corporation, then InterMune, after that Vidara Therapeutics and finally Horizon Pharma as of 2019. * Activase ( alteplase), for heart attacks. * Akynzeo ( netupitant/palonosetron), for nausea and vomiting, licensed by
Eisai Co. is a Japanese pharmaceutical company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It has some 10,000 employees, among them about 1,500 in research. Eisai is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a member of the Topix 100 and Nikkei 225 stock indices. ...
and Helsinn Therapeutics. * Alecensa (
alectinib Alectinib (INN, marketed as Alecensa) is an oral drug that blocks the activity of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and is used to treat non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It was developed by Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Japan, which is part of th ...
), for ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer. * Aloxi ( palonosetron), for nausea and vomiting, licensed by
Eisai Co. is a Japanese pharmaceutical company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It has some 10,000 employees, among them about 1,500 in research. Eisai is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a member of the Topix 100 and Nikkei 225 stock indices. ...
and Helsinn Therapeutics. * Anexate ( flumazenil), for the reversal of acute benzodiazepine effects. * Aurorix ( moclobemide), for depression. * Avastin (
bevacizumab Bevacizumab, sold under the brand name Avastin among others, is a medication used to treat a number of types of cancers and a specific eye disease. For cancer, it is given by slow injection into a vein (intravenous) and used for colon cancer, l ...
), for certain malignant tumours. * Bactrim ( trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole), a sulphonamide antibacterial. * Boniva Bonviva ( ibandronic acid), for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal females. *Camleed (
enprostil Enprostil is a synthetic prostaglandin designed to resemble dinoprostone. Enprostil was found to be a highly potent inhibitor of gastric HCl secretion. It is an analog of prostaglandin E2 but unlike this prostaglandin, which binds to and activates ...
), for gastric ulcer prevention. * Cardene (
nicardipine Nicardipine (Cardene) is a medication used to treat high blood pressure and angina. It belongs to the dihydropyridine class of calcium channel blockers (CCBs). It is also used for Raynaud's phenomenon. It is available in by mouth and intravenous ...
), for treatment of stable angina pectoris. * Cathflo Activase ( alteplase), for heart attacks. * Cellcept ( mycophenolate mofetil), for transplant rejection. * Cotellic ( cobimetinib), for melanoma. * Cymevene ( ganciclovir), for cytomegalovirus infection. * Dalmane Dalmadorm (
flurazepam Flurazepam (marketed under the brand names Dalmane and Dalmadorm) is a drug which is a benzodiazepine derivative. It possesses anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, hypnotic, sedative and skeletal muscle relaxant properties. It produces a metabolite w ...
), for insomnia. *Dilatrend (
carvedilol Carvedilol, sold under the brand name Coreg among others, is a medication used to treat high blood pressure, congestive heart failure (CHF), and left ventricular dysfunction in people who are otherwise stable. For high blood pressure, it is gen ...
), for hypertension and congestive heart failure. * Dormicum ( midazolam), for insomnia and procedural sedation and analgesia. * Erivedge (
vismodegib Vismodegib (trade name Erivedge ) is a drug for the treatment of basal-cell carcinoma (BCC). The approval of vismodegib on January 30, 2012, represents the first Hedgehog signaling pathway targeting agent to gain U.S. Food and Drug Administrati ...
), for basal-cell carcinoma. * Esbriet ( pirfenidone), for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. * Fansidar (
sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine Sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine, sold under the brand name Fansidar, is a combination medication used to treat malaria. It contains sulfadoxine (a sulfonamide) and pyrimethamine (an antiprotozoal). For the treatment of malaria it is typically used alo ...
), for malaria and toxoplasmosis. * Fuzeon ( enfuvirtide), for
salvage therapy Salvage therapy, also known as rescue therapy, is a form of therapy given after an ailment does not respond to standard therapy. The most common diseases that require salvage therapy are HIV and various cancers. The term is not clearly defined; it ...
of HIV-1 infection. * Gazyva ( obinutuzumab), for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. * Hemlibra (
emicizumab Emicizumab (trade name Hemlibra) is a humanized bispecific antibody for the treatment of haemophilia A, developed by Genentech and Chugai (a subsidiary of Hoffmann-La Roche, Roche). A Phase I clinical trial found that it was well tolerated by hea ...
), for haemophilia A. * Herceptin ( trastuzumab), for HER-2 positive breast cancer. * Hivid ( zalcitabine), for HIV-1 infection, later discontinued in 2006. * Inhibace ( cilazapril), for hypertension and congestive heart failure. * Invirase ( saquinavir), for HIV-1 infection. * Kadcyla ( trastuzumab emtansine), for HER-2 positive breast cancer. * Klonopin Rivotril ( clonazepam), for epilepsy and anxiety disorders. * Kytril (
granisetron Granisetron is a serotonin 5-HT3 receptor antagonist used as an antiemetic to treat nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Its main effect is to reduce the activity of the vagus nerve, which is a nerve that activates the v ...
), for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, licensed by
GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...
. * Lariam (
mefloquine Mefloquine, sold under the brand name Lariam among others, is a medication used to prevent or treat malaria. When used for prevention it is typically started before potential exposure and continued for several weeks after potential exposure. It ...
), for malaria (both prevention and treatment). * Lexotanil (
bromazepam Bromazepam, sold under many brand names, is a benzodiazepine. It is mainly an anti-anxiety agent with similar side effects to diazepam (Valium). In addition to being used to treat anxiety or panic states, bromazepam may be used as a premedicant ...
), for anxiety disorders. * Librax ( Chlordiazepoxide/clidinium bromide), treating stomach ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, or symptoms related to intestinal infection. * Librium ( chlordiazepoxide), for anxiety disorders. * Lucentis ( ranibizumab), for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). * Luxturna ( voretigene neparvovec), for
Leber's congenital amaurosis Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a rare inherited eye disease that appears at birth or in the first few months of life. It affects about 1 in 40,000 newborns. LCA was first described by Theodor Leber in the 19th century. It should not be co ...
. * MabThera ( rituximab), for B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (and other haematological malignancies), non-Hodgkin lymphomas and rheumatoid arthritis. * Madopar/Prolopa ( levodopa benserazide), for Parkinson's disease. * Mircera (methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta">benserazide.html" ;"title="levodopa benserazide">levodopa benserazide), for Parkinson's disease. * Mircera (methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta), for anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease. * Naprosyn (naproxen), a NSAID used for pain relief and arthritis treatment. *Neulastim (pegfilgrastim), for neutropaenia. * Neupogen (filgrastim), for neutropaenia. * Nutropin (
somatropin Growth hormone therapy refers to the use of growth hormone (GH) as a prescription medication—it is one form of hormone therapy. Growth hormone is a peptide hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that stimulates growth and cell reproduction. I ...
), for growth hormone deficiency. * Nutropin AQ (
somatropin Growth hormone therapy refers to the use of growth hormone (GH) as a prescription medication—it is one form of hormone therapy. Growth hormone is a peptide hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that stimulates growth and cell reproduction. I ...
), for growth hormone deficiency. *Nutropin Depot (
somatropin Growth hormone therapy refers to the use of growth hormone (GH) as a prescription medication—it is one form of hormone therapy. Growth hormone is a peptide hormone secreted by the pituitary gland that stimulates growth and cell reproduction. I ...
), for growth hormone deficiency, later discontinued in 2004 and replaced by Nutropin AQ. * Ocrevus (
ocrelizumab Ocrelizumab, sold under the brand name Ocrevus, is a medication used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). It is a humanized anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody. It targets CD20 marker on B lymphocytes and hence is an immunosuppressive drug. O ...
), for MS. * Peginterferon/alfa-2a, Pegasys, ( peginterferon alfa-2a) for hepatitis B and C. * Perjeta (
pertuzumab Pertuzumab, sold under the brand name Perjeta, is a monoclonal antibody used in combination with trastuzumab and docetaxel for the treatment of metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer; it also used in the same combination as a neoadjuvant in earl ...
), for HER-2 positive breast cancer. * Polatuzumab vedotin, Polivy (
polatuzumab vedotin Polatuzumab vedotin (INN; brand name Polivy, is an antibody-drug conjugate or ADC designed for the treatment of cancer. The US Food and Drug Administration approved polatuzumab vedotin in June 2019 for treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma ...
), for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. * Protropin (
somatrem Somatrem, sold under the brand name Protropin, is an analogue of growth hormone (GH). Somatrem is a recombinant human growth hormone used for the treatment of short stature due to decreased or absent secretion of endogenous growth hormone. Som ...
), for growth hormone deficiency, later discontinued in 2004 in favor of its successor, Nutropin. * Pulmozyme ( dornase alfa), for the improvement of pulmonary function in cystic fibrosis. * Raptiva (
efalizumab Efalizumab (trade name Raptiva, Genentech, Merck Serono) is a formerly available medication designed to treat autoimmune diseases, originally marketed to treat psoriasis. As implied by the suffix ''-zumab'', it is a recombinant humanized monoclon ...
), for psoriasis, later withdrawn in 2009 due to the risk of PML. * Recormon NeoRecormon (
epoetin beta Epoetin beta (rINN) is a synthetic, recombinant form of erythropoietin, a protein that promotes the production of red blood cells. It is an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) that is used to treat anemia, commonly associated with chronic ki ...
), for anaemia. * Rituxan ( rituximab), for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. * Rocaltrol ( calcitriol), for osteoporosis and hypocalcaemia. * Rocephin (
ceftriaxone Ceftriaxone, sold under the brand name Rocephin, is a third-generation cephalosporin antibiotic used for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections. These include middle ear infections, endocarditis, meningitis, pneumonia, bone and joint ...
), a broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic. * Roferon A ( peginterferon alfa-2a), for some haematological malignancies (hairy cell leukaemia, chronic myelogenous leukaemia), certain solid tumours (including Kaposi's sarcoma), genital warts and chronic hepatitis C. * Rohypnol (
flunitrazepam Flunitrazepam, also known as Rohypnol among other names, is a benzodiazepine used to treat severe insomnia and assist with anesthesia. As with other hypnotics, flunitrazepam has been advised to be prescribed only for short-term use or by those ...
), for severe insomnia. * Rozlytrek (
entrectinib Entrectinib, sold under the brand name Rozlytrek, is an anti-cancer medication used to treat ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer and NTRK fusion-positive solid tumors. It is a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), of the tropomyosin r ...
), for ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer and NTRK fusion-positive solid tumours. * Soriatane/Neotigason ( acitretin), for psoriasis. * Tamiflu ( oseltamivir), for influenza A and B (both treatment and prevention). * Tarceva ( erlotinib), for various cancers. * Tasmar ( tolcapone), for parkinson's disease, licensed by Mylan and
Bausch Health Bausch Health Companies Inc. (formerly Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.) is a Canadian multinational specialty pharmaceutical company based in Laval, Quebec, Canada. It develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and ...
. * Tecentriq ( atezolizumab), for non-small cell lung cancer. * TNKase (
tenecteplase Tenecteplase, sold under the trade names TNKase, Metalyse and Elaxim, is an enzyme used as a thrombolytic drug. Tenecteplase is a tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) produced by recombinant DNA technology using an established mammalian cell line ...
), for heart attacks. * Toradol (
ketorolac Ketorolac, sold under the brand names Toradol, and Biorolac among others, is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to treat pain. Specifically it is recommended for moderate to severe pain. Recommended duration of treatment is less ...
), for pain management. * Valcyte (
valganciclovir Valganciclovir, sold under the brand name Valcyte among others, is an antiviral medication used to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in those with HIV/AIDS or following organ transplant. It is often used long term as it only suppresses rath ...
), for cytomegalovirus infection. * Valium ( diazepam), for anxiety disorders, alcohol withdrawal, status epilepticus and other conditions. * midazolam, Versed ( midazolam), for insomnia and procedural sedation and analgesia. * Vesanoid ( tretinoin), for acute promyelocytic leukaemia. * Viracept (
nelfinavir Nelfinavir, sold under the brand name Viracept, is an antiretroviral medication used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Nelfinavir belongs to the class of drugs known as protease inhibitors (PIs) and like other PIs is almost always used in combination ...
), for HIV-1 infection, licensed by Pfizer and
ViiV Healthcare ViiV Healthcare ( ) is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the development of therapies for HIV infection that was created as a joint venture by Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline in November 2009 with both companies transferring their HIV assets ...
. * Xeloda ( capecitabine), for breast and colorectal cancer. * Xenical ( orlistat), for obesity. * Xofluza ( baloxavir marboxil), for influenza A and B (both treatment and prevention). * Xolair ( omalizumab), for asthma, chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU), and nasal polyps. * Zelboraf ( vemurafenib), for late-stage V600E BRAF mutation-positive melanoma. * Zenapax ( daclizumab), for the prevention of acute transplant rejection. Diabetes management products under the Accu-Chek brand include blood glucose meter, test strips and insulin pumps, as well as diabetes management software. Other products include: *
Cobas Mira An automated analyser is a medical laboratory instrument designed to measure different chemicals and other characteristics in a number of biological Sample (material), samples quickly, with minimal human assistance. These measured properties of bloo ...


Price-fixing conspiracy

Stanley Adams, Roche's World Product Manager in Basel, contacted the
European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
in 1973 with evidence that Roche had been breaking
antitrust laws Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
, engaging in price fixing and market sharing for vitamins with its competitors. Roche was fined accordingly, but a bungle on the part of the EEC allowed the company to discover that it was Adams who had blown the whistle. He was arrested for unauthorised disclosure — an offence under Swiss law — and imprisoned. His wife, having learnt that he might face decades in jail, committed suicide. In 1999 the firm pleaded guilty to participation in a worldwide conspiracy to raise and fix prices for vitamins sold in the US and globally. Hoffmann-La Roche paid $500 million in criminal fines to the United States.


Controversies

During the Second World War, Roche was reported to have collaborated with the Nazi regime in Germany and used prisoners-of-war or foreign forced labour in its German and Polish-based factories. In 2008 the
Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) is the trade association for over 120 companies in the UK producing prescription medicines for humans, founded in 1891.
(ABPI) suspended Roche for six months for breaching their code of conduct. In 2013, Roche had to pay back billion to the Swiss tax authorities due to transfer mispricing.


Collaborative research

In addition to internal research and development activities F. Hoffmann-La Roche is also involved in publicly funded collaborative research projects, with other industrial and academic partners. One example in the area of non-clinical safety assessment is the InnoMed PredTox. The company is expanding its activities in joint research projects within the framework of the
Innovative Medicines Initiative The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is a European initiative to improve the competitive situation of the European Union in the field of pharmaceutical research. The IMI is a joint initiative ( public-private partnership) of the DG Researc ...
of EFPIA and the European Commission.


See also

*
List of pharmaceutical companies This listing is limited to those independent companies and subsidiaries notable enough to have their own articles in Wikipedia. Both going concerns and defunct firms are included, as well as firms that were part of the pharmaceutical industry ...
*
Pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland The pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland directly and indirectly employs about 135,000 people.Stephan Vaterlaus, Stephan Suter and Barbara Fischer"The Importance of the Pharmaceutical Industry for Switzerland" A study undertaken on behalf o ...


References


Further reading

* Hans Conrad Peyer (1996) ''Roche – A Company History 1896–1996 '' Basel: Editiones Roche


External links

*
Roche Diagnostics
{{authority control Multinational companies headquartered in Switzerland Price fixing convictions Pharmaceutical companies of Switzerland Pharmaceutical companies established in 1896 Life sciences industry Swiss brands Companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange Companies in the Swiss Market Index Companies in the Dow Jones Global Titans 50