Recently,Severin Schwan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Roche Group, andBeijing Municipal Party Secretary Yin Li and National Health Commission Director Lei Haichao held talks.Two talks outlined the clear trajectory of China's healthcare and health industry towards openness and innovation, further reflecting Roche's strategic determination to anchor the Chinese market amidst global industry changes.

During,Schiwan said,Beijing has prominent advantages in developing the pharmaceuticals and health industry, and Roche Group will expand its investment and business layout in Beijing.

In fact,In recent years, Roche has been actively expanding its presence in the Chinese market. Currently, Roche's products cover a wide range of medical terminals, including hospitals, health examination centers, and third-party testing institutions.Provided a large number of advanced and reliable diagnostic products and solutions for the diagnostic market in China.

Yin Li stated that Roche Group is a global leading biopharmaceutical and diagnostics enterprise, and Beijing is willing to work with Roche Group to seize opportunities, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and achieve win-win development.It is hoped that Roche Group will strengthen its investment and business layout in Beijing, deepen the industry-university-research cooperation with hospitals, scientific research institutes, and pharmaceutical enterprises, and launch more innovative drugs and advanced therapies in the fields of oncology, immunology, and neurodegenerative diseases. Roche should also enhance cross-industry cooperation with Beijing's technology companies to form more exemplary applications in AI-assisted drug development, intelligent testing and diagnosis, and digital health management, jointly promoting the development of digital healthcare.Beijing will provide convenience in aspects such as market access and intellectual property protection.A large number of enterprises in BeijingCreate a more favorable development environment.

In response to this,Schwan stated that the scale of China's pharmaceuticals and healthcare market is enormous, and Roche Group is committed to continuing its deep roots in China for greater development. Beijing has a distinct advantage in developing its pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry, and Roche Group will expand its investment and business layout in the capital.Deepen joint innovation with Beijing's scientific research and medical institutions to jointly promote the development of digital healthcare, introduce more high-quality drugs and diagnostic products, and continuously enhance the health and well-being of the people.

The analysis suggests that,Roche is a global leader in biotechnology and in vitro diagnostics.The confidence in this Schwab meeting stems from the industrial ecosystem that the Roche Group has built in China over the past three decades. Among them,Roche Diagnostics' core business covers the research and development, production, and sales of diagnostic reagents and instrumentation.

Specifically, its diagnostic products are widely used in clinical testing, scientific research, pharmaceuticals, and other fields, providing important support for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. Roche Diagnostics offers a rich variety of diagnostic reagents, including biochemical reagents, immunoassay reagents, and molecular diagnostic reagents, which can meet the needs of diagnosing different diseases. In terms of equipment, Roche Diagnostics owns advanced fully automatic biochemical analyzers, immunoassay analyzers, and molecular diagnostic instruments, known for their efficiency, accuracy, and convenience, making them highly favored by users.

It should be noted that the impact of China's current IVD centralized procurement policy is gradually becoming apparent, and Roche Diagnostics, a foreign giant, has not been immune.

In the first half of 2025, Roche's total revenue was 30.944 billion Swiss francs, a year-on-year increase of 7%;Diagnostic revenue was 6.959 billion Swiss francs, flat compared to the same period last year. Sales in the Asia-Pacific region fell by 18% due to the impact of China's centralized procurement, with a 26% decline in the Chinese market.The main reason is the decline in sales of products such as heart markers and tumor detection.

However,Management Expects Impact of Chinese Policy to Ease by End of YearAt the same time, with the launch of products such as Elecsys pTau181 (Alzheimer's disease blood test) and cobas i601 mass spectrometry platform, it is expected to drive the gradual recovery of molecular diagnostics and core laboratory businesses.

According to reports,The decline in Roche Diagnostics' performance is closely related to China's centralized procurement policy.In 2024, the Anhui Provincial Medical Insurance Bureau led the largest-ever provincial procurement alliance for in vitro diagnostic reagents in history, covering 28 provinces and municipalities and 11,800 medical institutions, with an average price reduction of 52.62% for selected testing reagents.

In December of the same year, the results of the national volume-based procurement alliance for in vitro diagnostic reagents were announced. Although Roche Diagnostics' products were all selected as Group A, and ranked among the top in hospital demand for tumor markers and thyroid function reagents,But the average price reduction of more than 50% for the two major categories of products led to a 23% year-on-year decrease in sales revenue in China, dragging down the overall performance of the "Core Laboratory Business" in the first quarter.

As a result, at the beginning of this year, news of layoffs in Roche Diagnostics' China operations spread online. Although the company did not officially respond, its transformation and upgrading have become inevitable.

However,Roche Diagnostics shows growth momentum in multiple business areas, including molecular diagnostics and point-of-care testing.Among which, Roche Diagnostics equipment placements have seen a significant overall increase, with varying growth in the installation volumes of core laboratory instruments, molecular Cobas systems, pathology laboratory instruments, digital pathology slide scanners, and point-of-care Cobas Liat instruments globally. InIn China, the newly installed capacity is normal, occupying medical institutions in first- and second-tier cities while penetrating into grassroots medical institutions, ensuring market usage.

——