About
Roche was founded in 1896 in Basel by Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, who bet on a business model that was radical at the time: producing standardized medicines in factories instead of mixing them in pharmacies. The company's first hit was a cough syrup; its first blockbuster was a vitamin product in the 1930s; and its modern identity was forged in the 1960s with the discovery of Valium — the most prescribed drug in the world at the time. Today Roche is the world's largest biotech company and a leader in oncology: its cancer drugs — including Herceptin, Avastin, and the immunotherapy Tecentriq — have treated millions of patients, and its Hemlibra transformed hemophilia care. Uniquely among pharma giants, Roche is equally powerful in diagnostics: its cobas analyzers and PCR tests run in hospital labs worldwide, and its rapid COVID-19 tests during the pandemic made it a household name. This pharma-plus-diagnostics combination — pairing therapy with the tests that identify who needs it — is Roche's signature strategy. With about 100,000 employees and annual revenue near CHF 60 billion (US$67 billion), Roche is a majority owner of Genentech, the US biotech pioneer, giving it a deep pipeline in gene therapy and personalized medicine. Its biggest challenge is the patent cliff — several blockbusters face biosimilar competition — but its diagnostics franchise and oncology pipeline keep the Swiss giant among the world's most valuable healthcare companies.
Also known as: Roche
