Turnover rose by 10% and is the seventh consecutive year of double-digit increase - A dense network of relationships with universities, local companies and small research centers - The purchase of the American Ventana is decisive for entering the diagnostics sector
Determined, young, but with a long experience behind him. Severin Schwan is the new CEO of the Roche group, the leading Swiss giant in the field of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. In March, at the end of the fiscal year, he will replace the current CEO Franz Humer, who will only retain the position of Group President. Austrian, 40 years old (we are not in Italy) Schwan has successfully managed the Diagnostic division of Roche since 2006. He will leave his post as CEO of Ventana Medical Systems, the American company (based in Tucson, Arizona) specializing in the field of tissue diagnostics recently acquired by Roche. The acquisition, pursued for a long time by Schwan himself, was sanctioned by the stipulation of an agreement for a public purchase offer for the value of 3 billion and four hundred million dollars. An operation that is certainly expensive, but judged positively by analysts, who consider it of great strategic importance for the Swiss group. The operation will be completed in the second quarter of 2008, as Schwan reassured during the presentation of the financial statements for the year 2007. Positive balance: compared to 2006, the net profit increased by 25% to 11.4 billion Swiss francs, the earnings per share of 20% to 11.85 francs and the operating profit of 22% to 14.5 billion. The proposed dividend increase is equal to 35%, from 3.40 to 4.60 francs. This is the 21st consecutive year of growing dividends, and the seventh in which a double-digit increase in turnover has been recorded: 10% this year.
Mr. Schwan, in March you will become the new CEO of Roche. How do you think the moment is for your group?
«Roche is a very solid group, a world leader in the field of oncological pharmacology. 2007 confirmed our capacity for growth, which far exceeded that of our competitors and also that of the reference market. And we expect to maintain the growth trend for the next three years as well. I am very happy to start my new role right now."
Can you explain your approach to acquisitions, starting with the deal you just concluded with Ventana?
«We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Ventana. It is an excellent way to diversify the business portfolio and strength of our research sector. We will provide Ventana with additional resources, especially in research and development. And their technology will allow us to grow in the tissue diagnostics sector, which is very important to Roche. There is no doubt that this is a field in which Roche wants to invest, because it is able to open up new opportunities for us also in the pharmacological field. The acquisition is in fact in line with Roche's policy, which has long been active in "personalized medicine", i.e. the synergy between molecular diagnostics and pharmacology to obtain "individualized" treatments for each patient".
What advantage does this technique offer patients?
«One of the historical problems of pharmacological treatments is that the effectiveness of the same product varies greatly from patient to patient. Put more simply, sometimes we are faced with people for whom a drug, successful in other cases, does not work. Thin
