Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said today that sales jumped 16% to 25.4 billion Swiss francs (€16.50 billion) over the first nine months of 2005, based on strong demand for anti-flu drug Tamiflu and anti-cancer treatment Avastin.
Sales in the drugs division climbed 20% to $19.43 billion Swiss francs, the company said.
Sales of Tamiflu, which is considered a first line of defence against a potential flu pandemic, brought in 859 million Swiss francs and Avastin 1.1 billion francs.
The spread of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in Asia since 2003 - which has killed 60 people - has prompted mass stockpiling of Tamiflu by governments amid fears that the virus could mutate and cause a human flu pandemic.
Sales in Roche's diagnostics division, in which it is the world leader, rose 4% to 6 billion Swiss francs.
Roche does not announce quarterly profits, only the turnover of its various divisions.
Online market place eBay pulled the sale of Roche Holding AG's flu drug Tamiflu from its Web site earlier this week , after prices topped £100 on growing fears about the spread of bird flu.
The auction site said the sales on its British site had been stopped because the sale of prescription drugs was not allowed under the company's rules.
Europe has seen a surge in demand for Tamiflu on the Internet, following confirmation of cases of avian flu in Turkey and Romania and a suspected case in Greece.
Swiss drug maker Roche urged consumers earlier this month not to buy Tamiflu over the Internet, to avoid the risk of purchasing counterfeit pills, but to get advice from their doctor and pick the drug up from a reputable pharmacy.
Private prescriptions for Tamiflu cost the equivalent of £25 - £30 around Europe but national governments have purchased stockpiles of the medicine for less.
