Roche to Sell Off Rocephin and Shut Switzerland's Last Major Antibiotic Production Line

For four decades, the Roche plant at Kaiseraugst in the canton of Aargau has been one of Europe's most important production sites for ceftriaxone, a broad-spectrum antibiotic sold under the brand name Rocephin. That era is now drawing to a close. On Wednesday, Roche confirmed it will seek a buyer for the drug and wind down production at Kaiseraugst by the end of the decade .

The announcement marks the end of a chapter that began in the mid-1980s, when Rocephin became the first product in Roche's history to surpass one billion Swiss francs in annual revenue — a so-called blockbuster . Ceftriaxone remains on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines and is a frontline treatment for pneumonia, meningitis, and a range of serious bacterial infections. Hospitals across Europe and beyond continue to rely on it daily.

A Commercial Decision, Two Years in the Making

Roche site head Jürg Erismann told the Swiss financial newswire AWP that the decision followed more than two years of intensive discussions with political bodies . Rising manufacturing costs — particularly raw material prices — combined with downward pressure on reimbursement rates and widespread generic competition had made Swiss-based production increasingly uneconomical.

The company said it had informed both the European Commission's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) and Switzerland's Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) of its plans. Roche had been in contact with HERA since 2023 to explore a sustainable production model, but despite what the company described as constructive talks, no agreement was reached .

Erismann emphasised that the move was a routine portfolio management exercise rather than a strategic retreat. "We don't just bring new products to market — we also regularly assess our overall portfolio and divest older products," he told AWP . He expressed confidence that a suitable buyer would be found to continue manufacturing.

What It Means for Antibiotic Supply

The divestiture raises uncomfortable questions about Europe's ability to secure its own supply of critical medicines. Ceftriaxone is already overwhelmingly manufactured by generic producers, many of them based in India and China. The closure of one of the last Western European production facilities for the drug narrows the geographic diversity of supply at a time when policymakers have been vocal about the need to reduce dependency on Asian pharmaceutical manufacturing .

The European Commission has made strategic pharmaceutical autonomy a stated priority since the COVID-19 pandemic exposed fragile supply chains. HERA was established in 2021 specifically to address such vulnerabilities. Yet despite two years of dialogue, neither HERA nor the BAG could offer Roche a deal that made continued Swiss production viable.

Industry observers note that the situation illustrates a fundamental tension in antibiotic economics. Off-patent antibiotics are essential to public health but generate thin margins for manufacturers, creating a structural incentive to move production to lower-cost jurisdictions or exit the market entirely. The problem is well-documented: reports have found that a significant share of the world's antibiotic manufacturing capacity is concentrated in just a handful of countries.

Conservative and Skeptical Perspectives

Not everyone sees the Roche decision as a crisis. Some health economists argue that the market is working as intended: generic competition drives prices down, and production naturally migrates to the most efficient locations. Forcing high-cost Swiss production through subsidies, they contend, would misallocate resources that could be better spent on developing next-generation antibiotics.

Swiss People's Party (SVP) parliamentarians have previously questioned whether federal health authorities should be in the business of propping up individual pharmaceutical production lines, arguing that market mechanisms and diversified sourcing agreements offer a more realistic path to supply security than industrial policy.

Others counter that the strategic importance of antibiotics — particularly in the context of rising antimicrobial resistance — justifies public intervention. The BAG's failure to reach a deal with Roche is likely to fuel political debate in Bern about whether Switzerland's approach to pharmaceutical supply security is sufficiently robust.

No Layoffs Planned — For Now

Roche said approximately 100 employees are directly involved in Rocephin production at Kaiseraugst . Erismann said the company intends to retain these workers and redeploy them within its operations at the site. Roche is currently investing 1.4 billion Swiss francs in the Kaiseraugst campus, including 790 million francs for a chemical production facility, which the company pointed to as evidence of its continued commitment to the location .

The divestiture process is expected to begin later this year, with completion targeted by the end of the decade. Roche said it is seeking a buyer who would continue both production and global distribution of Rocephin.

Roche's Antibiotic Future

Erismann was keen to stress that the Rocephin sale does not signal an exit from antibiotics altogether. Roche has several antibiotic candidates in its research pipeline, including zosurabalpin, a novel compound targeting drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii that recently entered late-stage clinical trials . The next-generation focus reflects an industry-wide shift: established pharmaceutical companies are moving away from mature, low-margin generics toward novel antibiotics that command premium pricing and address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Whether that strategy will produce results fast enough to offset the loss of proven, affordable treatments like Rocephin remains an open question — and one that European health regulators will be watching closely.