Genentech, Roche rise on cancer sales

Here's Exhibit Z in the long list of reasons why Big Pharma wants to make deals with biotech--and why speculation about Biogen and Genzyme is running so high. Roche and Genentech are both reaping a big harvest from their joint cancer drugs this quarter.

Genentech's profit skyrocketed by 21 percent on better-than-expected sales of Avastin, which jumped 37 percent to $597 million. Roche's strong cancer-med growth--including its share of Avastin and Herceptin--made up for a shortfall in Tamiflu sales, pushing the company's third-quarter revenues up by 6 percent to $28.7 billion.

- see Genentech's release from Genentech
- check out this news release from Roche
- read the NYT report on Genentech's earnings
- read the article about Roche's results from the International Herald Tribune

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Read more on: Genentech | Roche | Avastin