Roche 'may be biggest drugmaker by 2014'
06 Aug 2008
Roche could become the world's biggest drugmaker by 2014, according to new figures.
EvaluatePharma said the Swiss pharmaceutical giant may see less of an impact from expiring patents than other firms such as Pfizer and Eli Lilly, Bloomberg reports.
It found that the company's tumour drug Avastin may become the world's number one best-selling medicine within the next six years.
The website adds that the figures suggest Roche might then corner six per cent of the global prescription drugs market, with Sanofi-Aventis predicted to have a 5.9 per cent share.
Roche recently announced that it had seen "very good" financial results during the first half of this year.
It reported that its net income had reached 5.7 billion Swiss francs (£2.8 billion), while its pharmaceutical sales increased by nine per cent - a figure which the firm said represents more than double the global market average.
