Basel, 23 June 2004

Roche to strengthen global leadership in biotechnology manufacturing
New production facilities planned at Group’s Basel and Penzberg sites

To enable it to continue to meet steadily growing demand for its innovative new medicines, the Roche Group intends to expand its manufacturing capacity for biotechnology products. The company plans to construct a new biotech centre at the Group’s Basel campus and an additional facility at the Penzberg site in Germany. The projects, representing capital expenditures of about 400 million Swiss francs each, will take three years to complete. The new facilities will initially be used to manufacture the active ingredients of the anti-cancer medicines Avastin and Herceptin, both of which belong to a group of therapeutic agents known as monoclonal antibodies. To operate the new Basel and Penzberg facilities, Roche will be creating roughly 150 new jobs at each site.

‘This investment underscores our intention of ranking among the world’s top biotechnology companies in every area, from research and development to production and marketing’, says Roche Chairman and CEO Franz B. Humer. ‘Biopharmaceuticals have led to therapeutic breakthroughs in a number of disease areas, notably oncology. By expanding our manufacturing facilities, we are also taking steps to ensure that we can continue to supply these medicines to all patients who need them. Further more, these milestone projects are a clear expression of our ongoing commitment to our large and important sites in Basel and Penzberg.’

At Group headquarters in Basel an existing chemical production building will be torn down to make room for a new eight-storey biotech centre designed by the architectural firm of Herzog & de Meuron. In Penzberg, the largest biotechnology manufacturing site in Europe, existing capacity will be expanded by adding a new five-storey facility.

Today, Roche already has the world’s largest manufacturing capacity for biopharmaceuticals. Apart from Basel and Penzberg, the Group has biopharmaceutical production facilities in Nutley (USA); at the Genentech sites in Vacaville (USA), Porriño (Spain) and South San Francisco (USA); and at the Chugai sites in Utsunomiya and Ukima (both in Japan).

About Avastin
Avastin (bevacizumab), a therapeutic antibody manufactured using recombinant DNA technology, is the first medicine for metastatic colorectal cancer to be based on a completely new approach known as anti-angiogenesis. The medicine selectively inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which plays a critical role in the formation and growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). By reducing tumour angiogenesis, Avastin inhibits the growth and spread of cancers. Avastin received FDA approval for the US market early this year, and Roche is currently working closely with European regulators to ensure that the product is available to patients in Europe as soon as possible.

About Herceptin
Herceptin is a targeted humanised antibody treatment that received approval in the European Union in 2000 for use in patients with metastatic breast cancer, whose tumours overexpress the HER2 protein. In addition to being indicated for use in combination with Taxotere as a first-line therapy in HER2-positive patients who have not received chemotherapy for their metastatic disease, it is also indicated as a first-line therapy in combination with Taxol, and as a single agent in second- and third-line therapy. Herceptin is marketed in the United States by Genentech, in Japan by Chugai and internationally by Roche.

About Roche
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 medicine. 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.

Additional information:
- Fact sheet on the new biotechnology facility in Basel - PDF (in German only)
- Picture on the new biotechnology facility in Basel - PDF
- Fact sheet on the new biotechnology facility in Penzberg - PDF (in German only):
- Picture on the new biotechnology facility in Penzberg - PDF