Roche, a Switzerland-based global pharmaceutical and diagnostics company, yesterday reported positive figures with strong growth for the first nine months of 2018.

The company announced that its group sales increased by 7% at constant exchange rates and in Swiss francs, and that its Pharmaceuticals Division sales were up 7%, driven mainly by sales of its products Ocrevus, Perjeta, Alecensa and Tecentriq, for the first 9 months of 2018

Roches' Diagnostics Division sales grow by 6%, primarily due to demand for immunodiagnostic solutions, the company said.

Among the company's recent approvals were Hemlibra for people with haemophilia A without factor VIII inhibitors, Actemra sub-cutaneous formulation for active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and prefilled syringes for Xolair in the US; and Alecensa for a form of lung cancer in China.

Roche CEO, Severin Schwan, commented on the Group's results, saying: 'In the first nine months of the year, both our Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics Divisions achieved very strong sales growth. The uptake of our new medicines continued to be strong in the third quarter. I am also very pleased that following the recent additional FDA approval, Hemlibra is now broadly available in the US for people with haemophilia A. Based on the performance in the first nine months of the year, we will achieve our full-year targets.'