Roche is the fifth-largest pharmaceutical company in the world by revenue[6] and the leading provider of cancer treatments globally.

During the Second World War, Roche collaborated with the Nazi regime in Germany and used forced labour in its German and Polish-based factories.

In 1976, an accident at a chemical factory in Seveso, Italy, owned by a subsidiary of Roche, caused a large dioxin contamination.

In 1995, the era of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) was initiated by the United States FDA's approval of Hoffman LaRoche's HIV protease inhibitor, saquinavir.

[25] On 12 March 2009, Roche agreed to fully acquire Genentech, in which it had held a majority stake since 1990,[26] after eight months of negotiations.

[31] In 2011, the company received the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering Facility of the Year Award for Process Innovation for Roche's "MyDose" Clinical Supply project.

[35] In December, Roche announced it would acquire Munich-based Verum Diagnostica GmbH, gaining entry to the fastest-growing field in the coagulation diagnostics market.

[48] In April 2015, Roche acquired CAPP Medical, and its chief development of technology for cancer screening and monitoring via the detection of circulating tumour DNA.

[49] In August, the company announced its intention to acquire GeneWEAVE, Inc. for up to $425 million in order to strengthen its microbial diagnostics business.

[50] Days later the company acquired Kapa Biosystems, Inc. for $445M, focussing on next generation sequencing and polymerase chain reaction applications.

[57] In February 2018, Roche announced it would acquire Flatiron Health, a business specialising in US cancer data analytics, for $1.9 billion.

[73][74] Under the terms of agreement, Genmark diagnostics will become a subsidiary and the principal operations will continue to remain in Carlsbad, California.

[75] In September, the company announced it would acquire German biotech group, TIB Molbiol, enhancing its molecular diagnostics operations.

[77][78] In July 2023, Roche partnered with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth $2.8 billion for the development of a hypertension drug.

[80] In October 2023, Monte Rosa Therapeutics and Roche signed a strategic cooperation and licensing agreement for the discovery and development of molecular adhesive degradators (MGD) to combat cancer and neurological diseases.

[81] In March 2024, it was announced Roche had sold Genentech's site in Vacaville, California to the Swiss pharmaceutical company, Lonza for $1.2 billion.

[92] All business areas except Roche Applied Science focus on health care applications, targeting either physicians, hospitals and clinics, or consumers.

Roche was fined accordingly, but a bungle on the part of the EEC allowed the company to discover that it was Adams who had blown the whistle.

[96] In 1999 the firm pleaded guilty to participation in a worldwide conspiracy to raise and fix prices for vitamins sold in the US and globally.

[96][97][98] During the Second World War, Roche was reported to have collaborated with the Nazi regime in Germany and used prisoners-of-war or foreign forced labour in its German and Polish-based factories.

[12] In 2008 the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) suspended Roche for six months for breaching their code of conduct.

[99] In 2013, Roche had to pay back SFr 3.2 billion to the Swiss tax authorities due to transfer mispricing.

[100][101] The company is expanding its activities in joint research projects within the framework of the Innovative Medicines Initiative of EFPIA and the European Commission.