A Pipeline of Potential Profits

When evaluating drug makers as possible investments, it’s important to check out their pipelines of products in development. It can take a decade or longer for a drug to pass all clinical trials and get approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and many drugs in development never end up approved for sale. Thus, a big pipeline is promising, because it’s likely that at least some drugs will make it to market.

For a hefty pipeline, check out the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche (NasdaqOTH: RHHBY). It sports about 150 clinical programs in development, including some for combination treatments based on the company’s already-approved drugs. Cancer drug Tecentriq, for example, is included in more than a dozen studies in combination with other drugs.

Roche also leads its industry with 14 of its drugs in development designated by the FDA as “breakthrough therapies” — with their early stage clinical data suggesting a vast improvement over existing options.

Looking beyond 2018, Roche has a potential wave of regulatory filings on the way and could submit 25 drugs for approval. Among the most notable candidates are autoimmune disease drug etrolizumab and two experimental Alzheimer’s disease drugs.

Meanwhile, Roche recently won regulatory approval for multiple sclerosis drug Ocrevus. The drug is expected to generate sales of more than $3 billion.