The company plans to divest a drug it has made for 40 years, citing increasing production costs and falling prices.
Roche has started looking for a partner to handle production and supply of Rocephin after concluding it is becoming “increasingly unsustainable” to make the antibiotic in Switzerland.
Rocephin is Roche’s brand name for ceftriaxone, a long-acting, broad spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic. Since ceftriaxone was approved in the 1980s, physicians have used the injectable antibiotic to treat conditions such as sepsis and meningitis in children and adults. The antibiotic is on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines.
Roche serves the market from its production site in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland. Yet after manufacturing the antibiotic for 40 years, Roche is now seeking a production partner. AWP Financial News first reported the development, which a Roche spokesperson confirmed to BioSpace via email.
“The decision was made because production of Rocephin in Switzerland is becoming increasingly unsustainable due to the rising cost of manufacturing, the reduction in prices that governments are willing to pay for Rocephin and the widespread use of generics in many countries around the world,” the spokesperson said.
Roche has spoken with the European Commission’s Health Emergency Response Authority and the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health over the past two years to try to find ways to address the challenges, the spokesperson said. However, the parties were unable to agree on a way to secure sustainable production at the site, leading Roche to commit to divesting Rocephin.
The company plans to start the process this year, and the earliest it could be completed is the end of the decade, the spokesperson said. The company has informed the European Union and Swiss authorities about its decision.
Roche’s move to divest Rocephin comes amid a push by EU authorities to encourage drug production in the region. Supply disruptions during the pandemic, recent trade tensions with the U.S. and pressure to make the EU more competitive have combined to drive lawmakers to propose changes to prevent drug shortages and lessen reliance on imports.
Under the Critical Medicines Act, for example, countries could favor suppliers that manufacture a significant portion of certain products in the EU. The legislation, which has entered the final phase of negotiations between EU bodies, is intended to move the EU away from procurement policies that focus primarily on price.
