‘A Disaster’: Roche CEO’s Verdict on Some COVID-19 Antibody Tests
04/23/2020
Some blood tests being marketed to tell people if they have had the new coronavirus are a “disaster,” Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan said on Wednesday as he prepares to launch the drugmaker’s own antibody test next month, according to a Reuters report.
Roche’s diagnostics business has moved out of the shadow of its main medicines unit during the pandemic, as the Swiss pharma giant confirmed its 2020 sales and profit outlook amid rising demand for COVID-19 testing. Countries around the world hope such blood tests – meant to show whether people exposed to the disease have developed antibodies thought to offer some immunity – will guide efforts to restart their economies and keep healthcare workers safe.