Roche's Ocrevus is one of the best MS launches ever, but Tecentriq in I-O? Not so much

Don't worry about biosimilars, Roche says. Our new drugs will have it handled. In fact, we're in the middle of one of the most successful multiple sclerosis launches ever. That was the essential message from the Swiss drugmaker's executives Thursday as they reported first-quarter results. Ocrevus, Roche's MS injection approved in the U.S. last year, hauled in 479 million Swiss francs ($486 million), and that performance ranks Ocrevus among the industry's best in multiple sclerosis, Roche's pharmaceutical head Daniel O'Day bragged. For comparison, Biogen's mega-successful MS med Tecfidera reeled in $506 million in quarterly sales at about the same point in its rollout. Good news for Roche. Not so good: Tecentriq sales, which "stalled" in the quarter, as characterized by Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson. The immuno-oncology drug—which competes in the hot PD-1/L1 field against Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo and Merck & Co.'s Keytruda—generated 139 million francs ($141 million) in Q1, essentially no better than its turnout in the fourth quarter.