Chairman’s letter to shareholders

Looking back at 2024, Severin Schwan highlights how Roche’s focus on innovation, sustainability and collaboration has led to both business growth and significant advancements in healthcare. With Roche’s combined expertise in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, the potential of AI and a promising pipeline, he sees the company well positioned for the future.

Dear Shareholders

Preventing, stopping and curing diseases – this is what Roche is all about. Our mission is to improve people’s quality of life and help them live longer through scientific excellence. And this was our focus again last year.

It was a successful year overall. Our sales grew significantly in 2024 due to strong demand for our innovative diagnostic tests and medicines. We were also able to advance medical science, with key launches like our new breast cancer medicine Itovebi or our fully automated mass spectrometry solution.

On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I would like to express my sincere thanks to our CEO Thomas Schinecker, his leadership team and all our employees for their unwavering commitment to the well-being of patients around the world.

The success of Roche’s innovative strength is also reflected in our financial results. In total, sales rose by 7%* at constant exchange rates. IFRS net income came to CHF 9.2 billion. Based on our strong business performance, we will propose a dividend of CHF 9.70 per share at the Annual General Meeting on 25 March 2025. Subject to your approval, this would be the 38th consecutive increase.

As the geopolitical and economic tension continues around the world, populism, protectionism and the weakening of the rule of law threaten international economic relations. As a Swiss company in particular, we depend on these relationships, as well as on a business-friendly regulatory environment. This includes the protection of intellectual property, a moderate tax policy and a liberal labour market – fundamental prerequisites to sustainably enable innovation for the benefit of all. This is very much in contrast to short-term oriented subsidy policies and over-regulation.

Prevention and access to diagnostics and innovative therapies are an investment in the future – and the best possible lever for reducing the burden on healthcare systems in the long term. After all, people can best contribute to a country’s productivity and prosperity when they are in good health. It is therefore in the interest of every nation to preserve the health of its citizens. The key to this lies in innovation, dialogue and close collaboration between governments and the private sector. This is demonstrated by the many projects around the world where we work with local partners to bring modern diagnostics and effective treatments to people in remote and economically disadvantaged regions.

Innovation creates prosperity. Therefore we will continue to invest along the entire value chain to help patients around the world even earlier, more effectively and more sustainably.

With a total investment of CHF 1.2 billion, our recently opened Roche Innovation Center Basel is a perfect example of this. As one of the most modern research centres in the world, it focuses on interdisciplinary cooperation, with all specialised fields – biology, chemistry, IT – coming together. I am convinced innovation happens precisely at such intersections. The combination of short distances and innovative tools with the inspiring blend of art and architecture promotes exchange and creates not just a workplace but a place for meaningful encounters: a place where people love to come to. This is exactly what our employees are saying, which makes me very proud.

The new Roche Innovation Center also shows how we are advancing our sustainability goals, including maximising energy efficiency and using recycled concrete, rooftop solar panels and smart concepts for water-saving. Last year, we also further refined our company-wide sustainability strategy. In the area of climate protection, we set ourselves the ambitious target of achieving net-zero emissions throughout our value chain by 2045 and absolute zero emissions by 2050 as part of the Science Based Targets initiative. And we are working on other topics such as improved access to healthcare, sustainable product development, and measures for biodiversity conservation.

In recent years we have seen remarkable progress in many areas, including the development of clean forms of energy, medical research and artificial intelligence (AI). AI has enormous potential to make the development of medicines significantly more efficient. For AI to reach its full potential, however, we need data. The electronic patient records introduced in many countries are an important contribution in this regard. With our anonymised or pseudonymised data, AI systems learn to detect the smallest patterns, identify optimal molecular combinations and predict complex biological processes. With more data, there will be new opportunities for diagnostics and treatment.

With our wealth of expertise in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, state-of-the-art technology and a promising pipeline, I have great confidence that Roche will continue on its successful path in the years to come. Millions of patients around the world rely on this – as do you, dear shareholders. And I would like to thank you very much for the trust you place in us.

Chairman

*  All growth rates and year-on-year comparisons are at constant exchange rates (CER; 2023 average) and all total figures are reported in Swiss francs.

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