Roche CEO slams Europe for failing to reward innovation

Thomas Schinecker says Roche will only invest in "innovative" countries Keystone / Michael Buholzer

Roche's chief executive officer has lambasted Europe’s lack of pharmaceutical innovation and support for the industry, which he said deprive patients of access to the latest medicines.

“The US and Asia really play to win, and I feel Europe is more and more playing not to lose,” Thomas Schinecker, CEO of the Swiss drugmaker, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. Roche will “only invest in countries in the future that are also going to reward innovation.”

The comments are some of the 51-year-old executive’s strongest to date, coming after Roche paused German investments to protest the government’s cost-cutting healthcare reform. Germany and others are “not really investing in growth,” he said Thursday, echoing recent criticism by others in the industry.

The drugmaker is looking for new medicines to replenish its pipeline, striking six agreements in China since August alone. Asia accounted for half of last year’s deals and the remainder took place in the US, according to Schinecker.

Europe cutting costs

European governments are looking to cut costs to help plug ballooning deficits. US drugmaker Eli Lilly and local drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim have said they will cancel some investments in Germany.

Roche on Thursday reported better-than-expected quarterly sales but left its outlook for the year unchanged, disappointing investors who had hoped for an upgrade.

Revenue rose 8% to CHF16.1 billion ($19.7 billion) in the quarter. The gain was helped by the older asthma and allergy drug Xolair, which faces cheaper competitors. The shares fell less than 1% in Zurich trading.

Roche is betting big on multiple sclerosis and oncology, including a new breast-cancer pill it says could one day surpass its former blockbuster Herceptin. The Swiss drugmaker needs new medicines and recovering diagnostics to keep growing as sales of older treatments fade.

The company reiterated its forecast for the year, with earnings growing in the high single-digit range and revenue by a mid single-digit percentage.

Questions raised

The decision not to increase the guidance “should raise some questions about the growth trajectory into 2027,” Michael Leuchten, an analyst at Jefferies, wrote in a note.

Xolair, a medicine first approved more than 20 years ago, is making a comeback to reduce the risk of dangerous reactions like anaphylaxis in people with food allergies. The drug will likely keep growing next year despite cheaper copies becoming available, the company said.

Newer blockbusters like the eye drug Vabysmo, Ocrevus for multiple sclerosis and Hemlibra for hemophilia also gained.

Investors have warmed to Roche’s efforts to deliver new medicines, with shares rising about 19% in the year to Wednesday, more than other large European pharma companies. Local rival Novartis, which faces a patent cliff and has experienced research setbacks recently, has gained 16% in the period.

–With assistance from Guy Johnson and Anna Edwards.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.

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