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Group Press Releases

news_arrow European Commission continues to support Avastin in combination with paclitaxel as an effective treatment option for women with metastatic breast cancer
Roche announced today that the European Commission confirmed that Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with paclitaxel will remain a treatment option for women with metastatic breast cancer in Europe.

news_arrow Roche Annual General Meeting: dividend raised by 10%
Roche's Annual General Meeting, which was held today in Basel, has approved all of the Board of Directors' proposals. The 818 shareholders in attendance, representing 142,963,212 or 89.4% of a total of 160,000,000 bearer shares, approved the 2010 Annual Report and financial statements. They also authorised a dividend increase of 10% to 6.60 Swiss francs per share and non-voting equity.

news_arrow Third phase III study of Avastin-based regimen met primary endpoint in ovarian cancer
Roche announced today that OCEANS, a phase III study evaluating Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with chemotherapy (carboplatin and gemcitabine) followed by continued use of Avastin alone until disease progression in women with previously treated (recurrent), platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, met its primary endpoint.

news_arrow Solid overall results
Mid-single digit sales growth in local currencies excluding Tamiflu - Strong profit growth - Promising late stage pharmaceutical pipeline of twelve new molecular entities

news_arrow FDA approves Rituxan/MabThera for first-line maintenance use in follicular lymphoma
Roche today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Rituxan/MabThera (rituximab) as a maintenance treatment for patients with advanced follicular lymphoma who responded to initial treatment with Rituxan/MabThera plus chemotherapy (induction treatment). This milestone follows the clearance of MabThera for this indication by the European Commission in October 2010.

news_arrow Early successful readout of Tarceva study in a distinct form of lung cancer
Roche today announced that an independent data monitoring committee has recommended that the phase III EURTAC study be stopped early because the study met its primary endpoint. At a planned interim analysis it was shown that compared to platinum-based chemotherapy Tarceva® (erlotinib) significantly extended the time people with newly diagnosed advanced non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) activating mutations lived without their disease getting worse (progression-free survival or PFS).

news_arrow Roche personalized investigational medicine shows survival benefit in advanced skin cancer
Roche today announced that BRIM3, a Phase III clinical study of RG7204 (PLX4032), met its co-primary endpoints showing a significant survival benefit in people with previously untreated BRAF V600 mutation-positive metastatic melanoma.

news_arrow Changes to the Roche Corporate Executive Committee
Erich Hunziker (born 1953), Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Officer and Deputy Head of the Corporate Executive Committee has decided to retire from Roche at the end of March 2011 and plans to focus on a number of board memberships. The Board of Directors of Roche Holding Ltd thanks Erich Hunziker for his many years of exceptional service and outstanding contributions to the Group’s success. The Board of Directors has appointed Alan Hippe to succeed Erich Hunziker as Chief Financial Officer. Alan Hippe will join Roche as a member of the Corporate Executive Committee as of April 2011.

news_arrow FDA grants supplemental approval for ACTEMRA
Roche today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration has extended the ACTEMRA label to include inhibition and slowing of structural joint damage, improvement of physical function, and achievement of major clinical response in adult patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis, when given in combination with methotrexate.

news_arrow Roche provides update on Avastin for metastatic breast cancer following reviews in Europe and the United States
Roche confirmed that following the reviews of Avastin (bevacizumab) in metastatic breast cancer by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the following regulatory announcements were made by the individual health authorities