Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR) (OTCMKTS:RHHBY) reported an increase of 6% in its diagnostic sales for the FY2015, reaching up to $10.9 billion. The diagnostics division of the company caters to diabetes care and molecular and tissue diagnostics, apart from professional diagnostics. RHHBY also sells several products through its diagnostic division. The company reported that major growth was seen in the Asia-Pacific region, up to 15%.
Competitors for the company, in this space, include Abbott Laboratories, Bio-Rad Labs and Becton Dickinson. While Abbott deals primarily in the diagnosis of HIV and hepatitis, Becton is focused on microbiology and molecular diagnosis. In 2015, Roche Holdings also gained approvals for the cobas-6800 and cobas-8800 systems, along with approval for the cobas HBV, HCV and HIV viral load tests. The approval was granted by the US FDA, over the course of FY2015. The company has also come up with a cobas Zika test, through the use of cobas-6800 ad cobas-8800 systems.
During the 1H2016, Roche is expected to file for regulatory approval of Ocrelizumab, a pipeline drug from the company, which recently underwent phase-3 clinical trials. The drug is targeted at PPMS (primary progressive multiple sclerosis) and RRMS (relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis). The drug already holds the designation of “Breakthrough Therapy”. The phase-3 study was conducted to determine the safety and efficacy profile of the drug, which returned positive results.
Ocrelizumab is being developed by Roche, in collaboration with Biogen. If approved, the drug would have a customer base of around 1.3 million, worldwide. The market is currently valued at $18 billion. However, Ocrelizumab is not the only drug available for treatment, but is expected to capture a higher market share, based on its improved safety and efficacy. As such, the drug could possibly turnout to be a multi-billion dollar worth asset.
Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR) (OTCMKTS:RHHBY) closed at the end of the April 7 session, at a share price of $31.70, after having a trade volume of 748,500 and losing 0.25% of its share value.
