Roche CEO laments Swiss franc strength, continues U.S. investment

Roche reported falling sales in the first three months of the year, as the strength of the Swiss franc and generic competition for some of its older drugs weighed on the drugmaker. 

First-quarter sales came in at 14.7 billion Swiss francs ($18.7 billion), down 5% year-on-year — but up 6% on a constant currency basis.

The appreciation of the Swiss franc against most currencies, notably the U.S. dollar, had a significant impact on the results reported in Swiss francs compared to constant exchange rates, Roche said. 

The Swiss franc fell 12% against the U.S. dollar in 2025 and is down another 1% so far this year. 

CEO Thomas Schinecker defended the company’s quarterly results, saying it’s a “question on how you look at the reporting,” and that while the Swiss franc appreciates, sales reported in U.S. dollars increased by 9%.

“We spend most of our money in the U.S., and we have most our debt in the U.S., we’ve just recently bought another company in the U.S.,” he told Squawk Box Europe.

“We will continue to invest in the U.S., and we don’t see that as a major issue.”

Europe’s pharmaceutical giants are under pressure as the sector faces a looming loss of exclusivities come the end of the decade, when older medicines will start facing generic competition.

Roche is betting heavily on a future entry into the lucrative weight-loss market, with a target of becoming a top-three player with its experimental drug CT-388, alongside Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, which currently dominate the market. 

CEO Schinecker told Germany’s Handelsblatt earlier this week that Roche is aiming for a double-digit market share in weight loss. 

This is a developing story…