* Q1 sales 11 bln Sfr vs 11 bln in Reuters poll
* Avastin sales 1.385 bln Sfr vs 1.39 bln in poll
* Says Illumina bid “more than adequate” to begin talks
* Affirms 2012 outlook
ZURICH, April 12 (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding
AG posted solid first-quarter sales on Thursday as its
key cancer drug Avastin sold better after recent setbacks even
as the firm was hit by the strong Swiss franc and price pressure
in Europe.
Roche, the world’s largest maker of cancer drugs, said
first-quarter sales fell 1 percent to 11.03 billion Swiss
francs, but rose 2 percent at constant exchange rates, meeting
the average analyst forecast in a Reuters poll.
Sales of Avastin rose 1 percent to 1.385 billion francs
compared to the average analyst forecast for 1.39 billion,
reversing several quarters of decline for what used to be
Roche’s top selling drug.
Roche said its $6.7 billion bid for Illumina, was
“more than adequate” to begin negotiations with the maker of
genetic analysis equipment that can help better identify which
patients will benefit from a given drug.
