Cancer drugs and Tamiflu lift Roche first-quarter sales five percent

ZURICH/LONDON (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG maintained its forecast of rising sales and profit this year after growth in its mainstay cancer medicines. Demand for its flu drug Tamiflu, a smaller seller, also surged more than 80 percent following a severe flu season in the United States. The world's largest maker of cancer drugs said first-quarter sales rose 5 percent to 11.59 billion Swiss francs ($12.44 billion), compared with the average analyst forecast of 11.45 billion francs in a Reuters poll. …