ROCHE Holding AG, the world's biggest maker of cancer drugs, said yesterday that first-quarter revenue dropped more than analysts estimated because of lower sales of the Tamiflu influenza pill and a weaker United States dollar.
The shares fell the most in three months.
Revenue declined 4 percent to 10.9 billion Swiss francs (US$10.9 billion) from 11.34 billion francs a year earlier, Basel, Switzerland-based Roche said. Seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News had a median estimate of 11.24 billion francs.
Governments and companies have stopped buying Tamiflu because they have sufficient stockpiles of the product, one of only two drugs available for pandemic influenza.