Roche Reports Q1 2023 Earnings: Vabysmo Generates $467M, Hemlibra Reaches $1.117B in Sales

On April 26, Roche announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2023, with revenue of 15.322 billion Swiss francs (approximately 16.557 billion U.S. dollars, calculated at the average exchange rate of 1 Swiss franc = 1.0806 U.S. dollars in 2023, hereinafter the same), a year-on-year decrease of 7%. Among this, pharmaceutical business revenue was 11.699 billion Swiss francs (12.642 billion U.S. dollars, +5%), and diagnostics business revenue was 3.623 billion Swiss francs (3.915 billion U.S. dollars, -31%).

Roche's diagnostics business revenue plummeted due to the subsiding of the COVID-19 pandemic, but its pharmaceuticals business maintained positive growth, primarily driven by the rapid growth of Vabysmo (faricimab), Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), Hemlibra (emicizumab), Evrysdi (risdiplam), and Tecentriq (atezolizumab).

Faricimab's growth was particularly remarkable, with sales increasing nearly 20-fold compared to Q1 2022 (4.32 vs 0.21), making it the biggest growth driver for Roche's pharmaceutical business. Faricimab is a VEGF-A/Ang bispecific antibody developed by Roche, which received FDA approval in January 2022 for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME), marketed under the brand name Vabysmo. The product has already been submitted for marketing approval in China and is expected to be approved this year (see: ).

The approval of Vabysmo is a milestone. Prior to this, the dosing frequency for wAMD drugs was once every 2 months (Aflibercept) or once every 3 months (Brolucizumab), whereas this product reduces the frequency to once every 4 months. In 2022, Vabysmo's sales reached 591 million Swiss francs (619 million US dollars). Based on its performance in the first quarter of this year, this product is highly likely to join Roche's "billion-dollar molecule" club in 2023.

Another blockbuster bispecific antibody product of Roche, Emicizumab (Hemlibra), continues to show impressive commercial performance. Since its approval and market launch in November 2017, it rapidly penetrated the market, with its Q1 2023 sales increasing by 24% year-over-year. Hemlibra is currently the only bispecific antibody used in the hemophilia field, offering the advantages of subcutaneous injection, being unaffected by coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) inhibitors, and not inducing such inhibitors.

In addition to Hemlibra, Roche has also developed two other promising products in the hemophilia field: SPK-8011 and RG6512. SPK-8011 is a gene therapy targeting coagulation factor VIII, and Roche plans to initiate the pivotal Phase III clinical trial of this product this year; RG6512 is a bispecific antibody targeting coagulation factor X and coagulation factor IXa. Its ability to form a ternary complex with FIX and FX is significantly superior to that of Hemlibra, and the product is currently in Phase I research.

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