ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche has no plans to cut jobs and its business is healthy, CEO Thomas Schinecker told a Swiss newspaper on Sunday.
Roche’s share price has fallen well below its April 2022 highs and the CEO was questioned about the company’s workforce plans in the context of recent setbacks in the development of drugs to treat cancer, among other things.
“The number of employees is constantly to slightly increasing,” Schinecker told NZZ am Sonntag in an interview when asked whether the company is planning layoffs.
“I can say with certainty that we have a very healthy business. And we don’t have a growth problem either,” he said, noting that Roche’s research and development budget was stable and not growing.
When asked when Roche’s planned anti-obesity drug would hit the market, Schinecker said it could be around 2029 or sooner.
Addressing the outlook for next year more broadly, especially in light of the German economy’s recent troubles, Roche’s CEO said Europe still faces challenges.
“There is some economic growth in the United States, but things are more difficult in China right now,” he said. “And in Europe it will take some time before we get out of this.”
