CEO’s and Chairman’s letter to shareholders

Dear Shareholders

2025 was marked by geopolitical tensions and economic challenges. As a Swiss company, we are dependent on open markets and stable international relations, which makes it so important for us to work together to create favourable conditions both ‘at home’ and abroad. These conditions include the protection of intellectual property, a liberal and open labour market and a clear commitment to science and innovation.

Last year, Roche once again made significant progress in an exceptionally dynamic environment. We continued on our growth path, launched important medical innovations and further strengthened our pipeline.

This dynamic is reflected in our figures – Group sales rose by 7%* at constant exchange rates to CHF 61.5 billion, with both the Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics Divisions contributing to this result. Core operating profit increased by 13%, while core earnings per share were up 11%. In view of the strong business performance, the Board of Directors proposes a dividend of CHF xx.xx per share. This would be the 39th consecutive increase.

Our ‘R&D Excellence’ initiative, launched two years ago to accelerate our research and development, is showing strong progress. The overall value of our pipeline has increased significantly, and in 2025 – for the first time in Roche’s history – we were able to move ten potentially life-changing medicines to the final clinical phase. These include candidates for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, obesity, hypertension, haemophilia A and various types of cancer. The pipeline also includes an antibiotic against resistant bacteria. Zosurabalpin could be the first new antibiotic in over 50 years to fight gram-negative pathogens that cause life-threatening infections such as pneumonia or blood poisoning.

We have achieved an important breakthrough in oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, which accounts for around 70% of all breast cancer cases. Giredestrant is an orally administered potential new medicine that specifically degrades a central growth driver of the tumour. This is the first time that a drug from this class of active ingredients has been proven to bring a significant benefit in the early stage of the disease. We are now moving ahead with the approval process so that patients can hopefully quickly gain access to a treatment that could significantly improve their chances of a cure.

The positive phase III study results for fenebrutinib represent another important medical advance. This investigational molecule has the potential to become the first oral treatment for both relapsing and primary progressive multiple sclerosis. In relapsing multiple sclerosis, disease activity in the previous phase II study decreased to such an extent that a relapse would only be expected roughly once every 17 years – a milestone for millions of patients worldwide.

In addition, Gazyva/Gazyvaro has been approved in the United States and Europe for the treatment of lupus nephritis, a potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease that attacks the kidneys and affects 1.7 million people worldwide.

Our Diagnostics Division has set a record with our next-generation sequencing technology, decoding a human genome in under four hours – which could save lives in emergencies. The system will be launched on the market later this year.

We have also reached an important milestone in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Elecsys pTau181 is the first test that allows doctors to reliably rule out typical Alzheimer’s-related pathology by means of a simple blood test, reducing the need for stressful and expensive follow-up examinations.

Scientific advances need long-term commitment. This is why we made important investment decisions in 2025 to expand our research and manufacturing capabilities, including a USD 50 billion programme in the US. This will help to strengthen local innovation and manufacturing and make us less vulnerable to supply chain risks and tariffs.

At the end of October, we celebrated the groundbreaking of Building 12, a new research and development centre in Basel. With an investment volume of CHF 500 million, this is our clear commitment to Switzerland as a business hub.

It will be crucial for the future that politics, industry and society see health not only as a cost factor, but above all as an investment – in people, quality of life and economic stability. People can only contribute to a country’s productivity and prosperity if they are in good health.

Our combined diagnostic and pharmaceutical expertise continues to hold great potential. This integrated approach is key to detecting diseases earlier, treating them more specifically and thus achieving better therapeutic outcomes. In this way, we can improve not only the lives of patients, but also the efficiency of healthcare systems worldwide.

Preventing, stopping and curing diseases – this strategy puts us in an excellent position for the future.

Sustainable healthcare also includes acting responsibly and sustainably. In 2025 we helped even more people to access our medicines and diagnostics, further reduced our emissions and achieved our goal of providing sustainable electricity to our Roche sites.

We believe that a company reveals its true strength in a challenging environment. And Roche demonstrated this strength in 2025. With excellent results and a promising product pipeline, our more than 100,000 employees have helped advance our vision of a healthier future. We would like to express our sincere thanks to all our colleagues for their invaluable commitment over the past year.

And thank you, dear shareholders, for your trust.