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Financial Report Report of the statutory auditors

Report on the audit of the consolidated financial statements

Report of the statutory auditor to the General Meeting of BB Biotech AG

Opinion

We have audited the consolidated financial statements of BB Biotech AG and its subsidiaries (the Group), which comprise the consolidated balance sheet as at 31 December 2020 and the consolidated statement of comprehensive income, consolidated statement of changes in equity and consolidated statement of cash flow for the year then ended, and notes to the consolidated financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies.

In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements give a true and fair view of the consolidated financial position of the Group as at 31 December 2020 and its consolidated financial performance and its consolidated cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and comply with the provisions of article 14 of the Directive on Financial Reporting (DFR) of SIX Swiss Exchange and with Swiss law.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with Swiss law, International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) and Swiss Auditing Standards. Our responsibilities under those provisions and standards are further described in the «Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the consolidated financial statements» section of our report.

We are independent of the Group in accordance with the provisions of Swiss law and the requirements of the Swiss audit profession, as well as the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA Code), and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Our audit approach

Overview

graphic

Overall Group materiality: CHF 38 875 470

We concluded full scope audit work at all of the Group entities, which are located in Switzerland and Curacao.

Our audit scope therefore addressed 100% of the Group’s assets, liabilities, equity, income, expenses and cash flows.

As key audit matters, the following areas of focus were identified:

  • Valuation of securities
  • Ownership of securities

Materiality

The scope of our audit was influenced by our application of materiality. Our audit opinion aims to provide reasonable assurance that the consolidated financial statements are free from material misstatement. Misstatements may arise due to fraud or error. They are considered material if, individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of the consolidated financial statements.

Based on our professional judgement, we determined certain quantitative thresholds for materiality, including the overall Group materiality for the consolidated financial statements as a whole as set out in the table below. These, together with qualitative considerations, helped us to determine the scope of our audit and the nature, timing and extent of our audit procedures and to evaluate the effect of misstatements, both individually and in aggregate, on the consolidated financial statements as a whole.

Overall Group materiality

CHF 38 875 470

How we determined it

1% of total consolidated shareholders’ equity

Rationale for the materiality benchmark applied

We chose shareholders’ consolidated equity as the benchmark because, in our view, it is the most relevant benchmark for investors, and it is a generally accepted benchmark for investment companies.

Audit scope

We designed our audit by determining materiality and assessing the risks of material misstatement in the consolidated financial statements. In particular, we considered where subjective judgements were made; for example, in respect of significant accounting estimates that involved making assumptions and considering future events that are inherently uncertain. As in all of our audits, we also addressed the risk of management override of internal controls, including among other matters consideration of whether there was evidence of bias that represented a risk of material misstatement due to fraud.

We tailored the scope of our audit in order to perform sufficient work to enable us to provide an opinion on the consolidated financial statements as a whole, taking into account the structure of the Group, the accounting processes and controls, and the industry in which the Group operates.

Key audit matters

Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgement, were of most significance in our audit of the consolidated financial statements of the current period. These matters were addressed in the context of our audit of the consolidated financial statements as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters.

Valuation of securities

Key audit matter

The investment portfolio as of 31 December 2020 comprises investments in marketable and nonmarketable securities (derivatives).

We consider this area to be a key audit matter because of the significant value of the securities in the consolidated financial statements.

As set out in note 4 (Schedule of securities) securities amount to CHF 3 955 million or 99.8% of total assets.

The valuation of the securities is prepared by the Investment Manager using the valuation methods disclosed in note 2 (Accounting policies). The Board of Directors approves the valuation of the investment portfolio.

How our audit addressed the key audit matter

We verified the design and implementation of the controls relating to the valuation of securities in order to determine whether the Investment Manager has appropriate controls in place. Further, we verified the adequacy of the applied valuation methods as well as the appropriateness of the resulting valuations by performing the following procedures:

We compared the valuation methods applied by the Investment Manager with generally accepted valuation methods. Further, we verified the quoted prices of marketable securities by comparing them with those from an independent source different from that used by the Investment Manager. Additionally, we verified that the valuation of the non-marketable securities is in line with the valuation policies of the Group.

We obtained sufficient audit evidence to conclude that the valuation methods were both appropriate and consistently applied by the Investment Manager.

Ownership of securities

Key audit matter

The securities are safeguarded by an independent custodian.

There is a risk that the Group may not have sufficient legal entitlement to the securities.

We consider this area to be a key audit matter because of the significant value of the securities in the consolidated financial statements.

How our audit addressed the key audit matter

We examined the ownership of the securities by requesting a confirmation of the securities portfolio directly from the custodian.

We obtained sufficient audit evidence to conclude that there is sufficient legal entitlement to the securities portfolio.

Other information in the annual report

The Board of Directors is responsible for the other information in the annual report. The other information comprises all information included in the annual report, but does not include the consolidated financial statements, the stand-alone financial statements and the remuneration report of BB Biotech AG and our auditor’s reports thereon.

Our opinion on the consolidated financial statements does not cover the other information in the annual report and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the consolidated financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information in the annual report and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the consolidated financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Responsibilities of the Board of Directors for the consolidated financial statements

The Board of Directors is responsible for the preparation of the consolidated financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance with IFRS, article 14 of the Directive on Financial Reporting (DFR) of SIX Swiss Exchange and the provisions of Swiss law, and for such internal control as the Board of Directors determines is necessary to enable the preparation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the consolidated financial statements, the Board of Directors is responsible for assessing the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Board of Directors either intends to liquidate the Group or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the consolidated financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with Swiss law, ISAs and Swiss Auditing Standards will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these consolidated financial statements.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the consolidated financial statements is located at the website of EXPERTsuisse: http://expertsuisse.ch/en/audit-report-for-public-companies. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Report on other legal and regulatory requirements

In accordance with article 728a paragraph 1 item 3 CO and Swiss Auditing Standard 890, we confirm that an internal control system exists which has been designed for the preparation of consolidated financial statements according to the instructions of the Board of Directors.

We recommend that the consolidated financial statements submitted to you be approved.

PricewaterhouseCoopers AG

Daniel Pajer

Audit expert
Auditor in charge

Roland Holl

Audit expert

Zurich, 17 February 2021

PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, Birchstrasse 160, Postfach, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland
Telefon: +41 58 792 44 00, Telefax: +41 58 792 44 10, www.pwc.ch

PricewaterhouseCoopers AG is a member of the global PricewaterhouseCoopers network of firms, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity.

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