- Hoffmann-La Roche AG, generally known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare firm that operates internationally under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has bearer shares listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The firm headquarters are situated in Basel. Roche is the biggest pharmaceutical firm in the world, and the top supplier of cancer therapies internationally.
The corporation owns the American biotechnology company Genentech, which is a fully owned subsidiary, and the Japanese biotechnology company Chugai Pharmaceuticals, as well as the United States-based companies Ventana and Foundation Medicine. Roche’s sales for fiscal year 2020 were 58.32 billion Swiss francs. Descendants of the founding Hoffmann and Oeri families control just over half of the bearer shares with voting rights (a pool of family shareholders 45 percent , and Maja Oeri a further 5 percent separately), with Swiss pharma business Novartis holding a further third of its shares. Roche is one of the few corporations raising their dividend every year, with 2020 as the 34th straight year. F. Hoffmann-La Roche is a full member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) (EFPIA).
HISTORY
Hoffmann-La Roche began manufacturing vitamin preparations and derivatives soon after it was founded in 1896 by Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche. When it began mass-producing Redoxon in 1934, it was the first firm to do so commercially. Benzodiazepines, a type of tranquillizers, were introduced in 1957. (with Valium and Rohypnol being the best known members). It is a market leader in the production and distribution of cancer medications. Iproniazid, the first antidepressant, was accidently generated in 1956 during the synthesis of isoniazid during a research experiment. To begin with, the goal was to develop a more effective anti-TB medicine. In contrast, iproniazid was shown to have its own advantages; some patients reported that it improved their mood. It was taken off the market in the early 1960s because of its potentially harmful side effects.
In 1976, a chemical plant operated by a subsidiary of Roche in Seveso, Italy, exploded, causing a massive dioxin pollution. Biomedical Reference Laboratories was purchased by the company’s US branch for $163.5 million in 1982. The firm was founded in Burlington, North Carolina, in the late 1960s. Roche Biomedical Labs, Inc. was formed as a result of Hoffmann-La Roche’s merger with all of its laboratories in Burlington. Roche Biomedical was one of the biggest clinical laboratory networks in the United States by the early 1990s, with 20 main labs and US$600 million in sales.
In addition to HIV testing and antiretroviral medications, Roche has manufactured a number of other products. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) patents were purchased by the company in 1992 The FDA’s approval of Hoffman LaRoche’s HIV protease inhibitor saquinavir in 1995 marked the beginning of the era of highly active anti-retroviral treatment (HAART). AIDS-related fatalities in the United States decreased from over 50,000 per year to about 18,000 in the two years after its approval (and four months after that, ritonavir). It was on April 28th of that year that Hoffmann-La Roche sold its subsidiary Roche Biomedical Laboratories to National Health Laboratories Holdings Inc. (which then changed its name to Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings). In 1994, Roche purchased Syntex, then in 2002, it bought Chugai Pharmaceuticals.
In the fight against bird flu, Oseltamivir is a problematic antiviral medication. The medication was discovered by Gilead Sciences and can only be manufactured by Roche. As part of a 2005 settlement, Roche agreed to pay Gilead tier-based royalties of 14–22 percent of yearly net sales without making any adjustments for manufacturing costs, as had been authorised in their original licence agreement.
On October 20, 2005, Hoffmann-La Roche made the decision to licence Oseltamivir production to other firms.
GlycArt Biotechnology was bought by Roche in 2005 to obtain the technology to afucosylate antibodies; one of their drugs in development was obinutuzumab, which received FDA clearance for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia in November 2013.
Ventana Medical Systems was purchased by Roche for $3.4 billion on January 22nd, 2008.
Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp. was bought by Roche on January 2, 2009.
Genentech was purchased by Roche on March 26th, 2009 for $46.8 billion.
After eight months of discussions, Roche decided to buy Genentech, which it had had a controlling share in since 1990, on March 12, 2009. While Roche’s offices in the United States were transferred to Genentech’s building in South San Francisco, its Palo Alto-based research labs were relocated to the Genentech complex in Clifton and Nutley, New Jersey as a consequence of the Genentech purchase. As on March 25, 2009, Genentech was a completely owned subsidiary of Roche.
In April 2010, Roche paid $160 million for Medingo Ltd. and $100 million for BioImagene, Inc.
An award for process innovation was given to Roche’s “MyDose” Clinical Supply initiative in 2011 by the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE). Roche purchased PVT Probenverteiltechnik GmbH in March 2011 for up to €85 million in total consideration. Roche paid up to 190 million EUR in July 2010 to purchase mtm laboratories AG. Roche paid $230 million for Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in October. Roche said in December that it had acquired Verum Diagnostica GmbH, a coagulation diagnostics company located in Munich, giving it a foothold in the rapidly expanding industry.
Nutley/Clifton campus closure was announced on June 26, 2012, and it was completed in 2013. Property remediation is now underway.
Roche Diagnostics purchased Constitution Medical Inc. for $220 million in July 2013. Genentech announced its acquisition of Arrayit Corporation later that month, in September.
IQuum and the rights to an investigational medication (ORY-1001) owned by Spanish business Oryzon Genomics were acquired by Roche on April 7th, 2014, for a combined price of up to $450 million, with up to $500 million in milestone payments.
This acquisition of Genia Technologies Inc., for up to $350 million, was announced by Roche on June 2nd of this year. At $74 a share, this is a 38% premium over the final share closing price, as well as the purchase of Santaris Pharma A/S for $450 million in August of 2014. It bought Bina Technologies in December 2014 for an unknown fee and Dutalys GmbH, a developer of next-generation anti-bodies, in December 2014.
Announcing the acquisition of Trophos for €470 million ($543 million) on January 16th, 2015, the firm plans to expand its footprint in neuromuscular diseases. Olesoxime, a spinal muscular atrophy medication in development stages II and III, will be the focus of the agreement (TRO19622). Cancer screening and monitoring using circulating tumour DNA was developed by CAPP Medical, which was bought by Roche in April 2015.
GeneWEAVE, Inc., a firm specialising in microbial diagnostics, was acquired by the corporation in August for up to $425 million.
Days later, the business paid $445 million for Kapa Biosystems, Inc., a company that specialised in next-generation sequencing and polymerase chain reaction technology.
It purchased Adheron Therapeutics in October 2015 for $105 million (with up to $475 million in milestone payments), and the deal was finalised in December of same year.
Tensha Therapeutics stated in January 2016 that it will be acquired by the firm for $115 million up front, with a further $420 million contingent payment.
ForSight VISION4 was purchased by the firm in January 2017. MySugr GmbH, a diabetes management platform, was purchased by the business in June for an unknown sum. Viewics, Inc. was bought by Roche in November. The acquisition of Ignyta Inc., announced at the end of December, would allow the firm to further develop its worldwide oncology business.
Roche announced in February 2018 that it will buy Flatiron Health, a company specialising in US cancer data analytics, for $1.9 billion. For $2.4 billion, the business stated in June of that year that it would buy the outstanding shares of Foundation Medicine. The acquisition of Tusk Therapeutics for up to €655 million ($759 million) was disclosed by Roche later in September. Black Belt Therapeutics will be the new home for Tusk’s anti-CD38 antibody, which the business plans to spin out from Tusk. Genentech announced the acquisition of Jecure Therapeutics at the end of November, acquiring access to Jecure’s NLRP3 inhibitors for the treatment of inflammatory illnesses such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis. Genentech acquired Jecure Therapeutics.
Spark Therapeutics, a gene therapy startup, was bought by the corporation in February 2019 for US$4.3 billion ($114.50 per share), expanding its gene therapy portfolio. To treat Leber congenital amaurosis, Spark has an already authorised therapy that costs $850,000 per patient: Luxturna. Despite the fact that Roche was unable to get a majority of Spark shareholders’ backing, the acquisition bid was prolonged until May 2019. In December, Sarepta Therapeutics acquired non-U.S. rights to an experimental gene treatment for duchenne muscular dystrophy for a total of $1.15 billion. In November, Roche paid $390 million up front and an additional $1 billion in milestone payments to buy Promedior and its main medication, PRM-151, for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
High-volume Sars-CoV-2 diagnostic testing was approved by the FDA in March 2020, allowing the Roche Diagnostics division to analyse 1,400-8,800 samples in 24 hours using the patented cobas 6800/8800 molecular testing platform.
An unknown sum was paid by the business to buy Stratos Genomics in the United States earlier this year.
Inflazome, a company located in Ireland, was purchased by the company for €380 million in September, allowing it to take ownership of its NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor inventory.
Roche announced in March 2021 that it will pay $1.8 billion to purchase GenMark Diagnostics. A subsidiary of Genmark Diagnostics, based in Carlsbad, California, will be formed in accordance with the provisions of the agreement. The business stated in September that it will purchase the German biotech startup TIB Molbiol in order to expand its molecular diagnostics capabilities.
