Virus tests save Roche as drug sales slide
Virus tests are proving to be a saving grace for Roche.
The Swiss pharmaceuticals giant saw drug sales slide in the first quarter.
They were down 9% over the period.
Revenues were hit as the global health crisis limited visits to hospitals and health centers.
But it was a different story on virus testing.
Sales at the firm's diagnostics division leapt by 55%.
That almost offset the slump in shipments of drugs.
Overall, Roche first-quarter sales dipped 1% to 14.9 billion swiss francs - or about 16.3 billion dollars.
Last year Chief Executive Severin Schwan was confident that drug sales would soon normalise.
But now he says the lingering crisis continues to have a negative impact.
Even so, the company still expects current-year sales growth in the low- to mid-single-digit range.
Core earnings are seen rising at a similar rate.
Roche shares rose over 1.5% in early trade on Wednesday (April 21).