Roche's Cancer Pill Bet Meets Europe's Drug Cuts

Roche is developing a daily experimental pill to prevent breast-cancer recurrence as Chief Executive Thomas Schinecker says Europe fails to reward pharmaceutical innovation. Giredestrant, the drug candidate, forms part of Roche’s effort to reclaim a place among cancer-treatment leaders after losing ground in the growing oncology market.

A patient’s account

In a Bloomberg report published October 22, 2026, Ulrike Isselhard, a mother of three from Bamberg, Germany, said an experimental pill she takes each morning helped her recover. Cancer upended her life for close to a year. Surgery to remove a breast and two rounds of chemotherapy left her exhausted, sapped her optimism and caused her hair to fall out.

Isselhard has returned to full-time work and cycles more than 3 kilometres to her office. “My life is exactly like it was before I got sick,” she said. “Except that I don't need to wear a bra anymore.” Roche says the pill could one day surpass Herceptin, its former blockbuster breast-cancer treatment.

Roche’s investment warning

Schinecker said Europe’s lack of pharmaceutical innovation and support for the industry deprived patients of access to the newest medicines. “The US and Asia really play to win, and I feel Europe is more and more playing not to lose,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

Roche would “only invest in countries in the future that are also going to reward innovation,” Schinecker said. He spoke after Roche paused investments in Germany to protest the government’s cost-cutting health-care reform. Germany and other countries “aren't really investing in growth,” he said Thursday, echoing criticism from others in the industry.

European governments are trying to cut costs as deficits balloon. Eli Lilly, a U.S. drugmaker, and Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim have said they would cancel some investments in Germany. Roche has struck six agreements in China since August alone. Asia accounted for half of the company’s deals last year, with the rest in the United States, Schinecker said.

Sales and the drug pipeline

Roche reported quarterly sales above expectations on Thursday but kept its annual outlook unchanged, disappointing investors who had hoped for an upgrade. Quarterly revenue rose 8% to CHF16.1 billion ($19.7 billion), helped by Xolair, an older asthma and allergy drug that faces cheaper competitors. Roche shares fell less than 1% in Zurich trading.

The company repeated its forecast for high-single-digit earnings growth and mid-single-digit revenue growth for the year. It is investing in multiple sclerosis and oncology, including giredestrant, but needs new medicines and a recovery in diagnostics as older treatments lose sales.

Xolair, first approved more than 20 years ago, now helps reduce the risk of dangerous reactions such as anaphylaxis in people with food allergies. Roche said it expected the drug to keep growing next year despite cheaper copies becoming available. Vabysmo, an eye drug, Ocrevus, for multiple sclerosis, and Hemlibra, for hemophilia, also gained.

Michael Leuchten, an analyst at Jefferies, wrote that the decision not to raise guidance “should raise some questions about the growth trajectory into 2027.” Roche shares had risen about 19% in the year to Wednesday, more than those of other large European pharmaceutical companies. Swiss rival Novartis, facing a patent cliff and recent research setbacks, had gained 16% over the same period.