Roche Holding AG — Ethics Grade C+

Roche Holding AG receives an overall ethics grade of C+ (58/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Pharmaceuticals. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 65
• privacy: 70
• consumer: 40
• environment: 75
• humanRights: 60

Documented incidents (3)

• Withholding Tamiflu Trial Data (high, 2014) — Researchers found that Roche withheld large amounts of clinical trial data regarding the efficacy of Tamiflu. When access was finally granted, it suggested the drug was no more effective than aspirin at reducing flu complications.
• Cancer Drug Pricing Controversy (medium, 2018) — The Malaysian government and various NGOs criticized Roche for high prices on breast cancer drug Herceptin, which made it inaccessible to the public health system. Pressure led to the eventual introduction of biosimilars.
• Adverse Reaction Reporting Failure (high, 2012) — The EMA found that Roche failed to properly assess and report over 80,000 potential adverse drug reactions in the US, including reports of deaths. This raised serious concerns about the company's safety monitoring systems.

Documented good deeds

• Water Waste Reduction — Roche successfully reduced its total water consumption by 20% across all global sites compared to a 2015 baseline through high-efficiency purification systems.

Ethical alternatives

• Novo Nordisk — Leader in affordable insulin access programs and transparent clinical reporting.