ZURICH: Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan expects accelerating sales especially in his drugs division during the remainder of 2021, he told reporters on Wednesday, after a first quarter in which the pandemic dented revenue from medicines that required doctor visits.

Drugs division chief Bill Anderson added that the impact of biosimilars -- copies of Roche's off-patent cancer medicines that are taking away business from the company -- would wane in severity in coming months, also helping the growth trajectory.