said first-half core operating profit fell 14% as the Swiss drugs and diagnostics maker was hit by a sharp decline in sales of COVID-19 products but the strong launch of a new eye drug mitigated the decline.
It said in a statement on Thursday that core operating profit came in at 10.9 billion Swiss francs , in line with analysts' expectations, Half-year sales of Vabysmo, an injection against a common form of blindness in the elderly that won approval early last year, came in at 1 billion francs, above an analysts' consensus of about 890 million francs.
Roche is marketing injection drug Vabysmo, the strongest growth driver in the pharmaceuticals division, as a treatment option that can be given at longer intervals than the conventional regimen of established Eylea by Bayer