Roche Holding AG reported Thursday that its first quarter sales were up 6 per cent to 12.2 billion Swiss francs (11.6 billion dollars), with both its pharmaceutical and diagnostic divisions showing growth, according to dpa. The Swiss drugmaker's key cancer drugs, including the flagship Avastin, were seeing increased sales, and more medicines were meeting approval for US markets. "Roche is off to a very good start in 2010," said Roche CEO Severin Schwan in a statement, confirming the company's outlook for 2010. The results beat several analysts' expectations. The group was anticipating a decrease in sales of Tamiflu - the anti-influenza drug - from 3.2 to 1.2 billion Swiss francs. Until now the drug has helped drive sales, in part over surging demand during the swine flu outbreak. Roche also confirmed its statement last month that it plans to introduce at least six new medicines by the end of 2014.
