ZURICH, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG's sales of flu drug Tamiflu will not meet the company's 1 billion Swiss francs ($1 billion) upper revenue estimate for 2010 after sales of the drug tailed off in the fourth quarter.
A spokeswoman for the Basel-based company said on Thursday Tamiflu revenue for October to December was expected to be 50 million francs, as reported in an analyst note, following sales of 808 million for the first nine months of the year.
Just a year earlier Tamiflu sales had ballooned to 3.2 billion francs, including 1.2 billion in the last quarter alone, as governments around the world stockpiled the drug as their most effective defence against the swine flu pandemic.
Because Tamiflu sales are extremely volatile, Roche excludes them from its overall sales outlook.
The anti-viral drug had come to prominence earlier in the decade when it was widely stockpiled after outbreaks of bird flu in a number of countries.
Roche, the world's largest maker of cancer drugs, suffered a series of setbacks in 2010, including poor test phase results for pipeline drugs and pricing pressures.
The company's shares fell 22 percent during the year, underperforming by a wide margin the European pharmaceuticals sector, which rose 6 percent.
(Reporting by Paul Arnold; Writing by Martin de Sa'Pinto; Editing by David Holmes)
($1=.9668 Swiss Franc) Keywords: ROCHE/TAMIFLU (paul.arnold@thomsonreuters.com; +41 58 306 7448; Reuters Messaging: paul.arnold.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
A spokeswoman for the Basel-based company said on Thursday Tamiflu revenue for October to December was expected to be 50 million francs, as reported in an analyst note, following sales of 808 million for the first nine months of the year.
Just a year earlier Tamiflu sales had ballooned to 3.2 billion francs, including 1.2 billion in the last quarter alone, as governments around the world stockpiled the drug as their most effective defence against the swine flu pandemic.
Because Tamiflu sales are extremely volatile, Roche excludes them from its overall sales outlook.
The anti-viral drug had come to prominence earlier in the decade when it was widely stockpiled after outbreaks of bird flu in a number of countries.
Roche, the world's largest maker of cancer drugs, suffered a series of setbacks in 2010, including poor test phase results for pipeline drugs and pricing pressures.
The company's shares fell 22 percent during the year, underperforming by a wide margin the European pharmaceuticals sector, which rose 6 percent.
(Reporting by Paul Arnold; Writing by Martin de Sa'Pinto; Editing by David Holmes)
($1=.9668 Swiss Franc) Keywords: ROCHE/TAMIFLU (paul.arnold@thomsonreuters.com; +41 58 306 7448; Reuters Messaging: paul.arnold.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.