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{\pard\sa900\fs50\f0\i Media Release\par}
{\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs22 Basel, 9 October 2003 \line \line {\b Roche builds 
world's largest molecular diagnostics manufacturing facility in the US} \par}{\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs22 Roche 
is investing USD 155 million in a new state-of-the-art PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) Manufacturing 
Center located in Branchburg, New Jersey covering about 285,000 square feet. Phase 1 of the project 
is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2004 with subsequent phases targeted for the facility 
to be fully operational by 2006. This new facility will employ approximately 800 people.\par}{\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs22 \u8220?Today\u8217?s 
groundbreaking ceremony represents a major milestone for our future business,\u8221? said Heino von Prondzynski, 
Head of the Diagnostics Division and Member of the Roche Executive Committee. \u8220?This significant investment 
demonstrates our commitment to developing new products which address the future demands of the international 
healthcare community. The increased capacity of the new facility will allow for the anticipated growth 
especially for the blood screening and women\u8217?s health product areas.\u8221?\par}{\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs22 \u8220?The 
new facility is being built to provide the manufacturing and supply functions for Roche Molecular Systems\u8217? 
industry-leading PCR diagnostic kits. It has been designed to further optimize productivity, enhance 
product flow efficiencies and the continued delivery of world-class quality PCR products. It will allow 
us to consolidate all functions currently operating in New Jersey (Belleville, Totowa and Branchburg) 
to one location,\u8221? explained Heiner Dreismann, Head of Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. during the ceremony.\par}{\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs22 The 
facility will include a one-story manufacturing facility, a short-term warehousing area, a packaging 
area and a utility area. A two-story office building will be connected to house manufacturing operations 
personnel. \par}{\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs22 In New Jersey, Roche Diagnostics produces 337 different kits for 
the research, IVD (In Vitro Diagnostics) and blood screening markets. The diagnostics kits are used 
for the detection and quantification of infectious diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis and sexually transmitted 
diseases, as well as for blood screening, including the West Nile Virus kit1, which is currently in 
clinical trials at various locations in the US and Canada. The production range also includes reagents 
for a variety of diagnostic platforms, including AmpliChip microarray technology. Overall Branchburg 
produces around 130,000 kits per month, which are distributed worldwide. Kit volumes in Branchburg have 
grown about 20 percent during the last one and a half-years due to both new products and increases in 
existing products. In 2002 Roche Molecular Diagnostics, a business area of Roche Diagnostics, posted 
a 19% sales increase in local currencies and reached sales of close to one billion Swiss francs.\par}{\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs22 {\b About 
Roche and Roche Diagnostics} \line Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of 
the world's leading innovation-driven healthcare groups. Its core businesses are pharmaceuticals and 
diagnostics. Roche is number one in the global diagnostics market, the leading supplier of pharmaceuticals 
for cancer and a leader in virology and transplantation. As a supplier of products and services for 
the 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 employs roughly 65,000 people in 150 countries. 
The Group has alliances and research and development agreements with numerous partners, including majority 
ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. Roche's Diagnostics Division, the world leader in in-vitro 
diagnostics with a uniquely broad product portfolio, 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 (http://www.roche.com) and \line www.roche-diagnostics.com (http://www.roche.com/div_diag.htm).\par}{\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs22 1 
For Investigational Use Only\par}{\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs22 {\b Additional information} \par}{\pard\f0\li440\ri0\sl360\fs22 - PCR 
information (http://www.roche.com/products) \par}{\pard\f0\li440\ri0\sl360\fs22 - PCR background (http://www.roche.com/pages/facetten/pcr_d.pdf) (in German only) \par}{\pard\f0\li440\ri0\sl360\fs22 - Branchburg, 
New Jersey (http://www.branchburg.nj.us/) \par}\line 
{\pard \par}
{\pard\sb180\f1\fs22 {\b F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd}\line 4070 Basel\line Switzerland \par}
{\pard\sb180\f1\fs22 Corporate Communications\line Roche Group Media Relations \par}
{\pard\sb180\f1\fs22 Tel. +41 61 688 88 88\line Fax +41 61 688 27 75\line www.roche.com \par}
}