Trade News

Basel, 30 November 2006

High reliability for diagnosis and pregnancy screening
Roche Diagnostics announces launch of the Elecsys TORCH assays

Roche Diagnostics is pleased to announce the launch of Elecsys TORCH assays

¹

 (CE marked) for the diagnosis and screening of Toxoplasmosis and Rubella infection.
Toxoplasma and Rubella infections during pregnancy are particular dangerous as they may lead to severe damage of the fetus or newborn. Therefore, prenatal diagnosis of such infectious diseases is important and excellent quality and reliability of the assays are critical.

“We are pleased to introduce the Elecsys TORCH assays. These assays are particular important in screening pregnant women for infections with toxoplasmosis or rubella, which if undetected can have serious consequences for the baby, said Dr. Volker Pfahlert, Head of Roche Professional Diagnostics, a business area of Roche Diagnostics. “The availability of these assays on the Elecsys further demonstrates Roche’s commitment to continually expand our infectious disease menu to help improve patient care".      

Toxoplasmosis is a common worldwide infection caused by a parasite (protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii). It can be transmitted from warm-blooded animals to humans. The infection occurs mainly by ingestion of food or water which is contaminated by tissue cysts. Most infections are mild or even without symptoms; however in patients with lowered immune deficiency toxoplasma infection can result in significant morbidity and mortality. In the case of a primary maternal infection occurring during pregnancy the parasite can be transmitted across the placenta and may lead to severe damage of the fetus.

Rubella infection, also known as “German measles” occurs usually during childhood and is associated with a common mild rash. Rubella acquired in the first trimester of pregnancy is associated with a 90% risk of congenital malformations like blindness, deafness, heart disease and mental retardation. As the clinical diagnosis of rubella is unreliable, serological assays are needed for diagnosis especially related to pregnancy.

Roche's Elecsys TORCH assays are based on recombinant antigens. For the production of these recombinant proteins, specific genes are introduced into cell lines which express the desired antigens in their native form. By using specific recombinant antigens the assays avoid interferences when compared to tests using antigens derived from crude cell lysates.

About Roche and the Roche Diagnostics Division
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As a supplier of innovative products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people’s health and quality of life. Roche is a world leader in diagnostics, the leading supplier of medicines for cancer and transplantation and a market leader in virology. In 2005 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 27.3 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 8.2 billion Swiss francs. Roche employs roughly 70,000 people in 150 countries and has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. Roche’s Diagnostics Division offers a uniquely broad product portfolio and supplies a wide array of innovative testing products and services to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals and laboratories world-wide. For further information, please visit our websites www.roche.com and www.roche-diagnostics.com

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Reference

1 Elecsys Toxo IgG and IgM and Elecsys Rubella IgG and IgM