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{\pard\sa900\fs50\f0\i Media Release\par}
{\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs22 Basel, 28 February 2005\line \line {\b Roche 
increases dividend by 21 percent} \line \line Annual General Meeting approves 
eighteenth consecutive annual dividend increase \u8211? Board members Humer, Hoffmann and Bell re-elected 
for another four years\line \line The Annual General Meeting of Roche was held in 
Basel today. It was attended by 565 shareholders representing 144,885,040, or 90.55 percent, of a total 
of 160,000,000 shares. All the proposals put forward by the Board of Directors were adopted. The Meeting 
approved the 2004 annual report and financial statements and authorised payment of an annual dividend 
for 2004 of 2 Swiss francs (gross) per share and non-voting equity security, an increase of 21% percent 
over the previous year. This is Roche\u8217?s eighteenth consecutive dividend increase. Franz B. Humer, John 
Bell and Andr\u233? Hoffmann were re-elected to the Board for further four-year terms.\line \line In 
his address to shareholders, Chairman and CEO Franz B. Humer summed up the year as follows: \u8216?We achieved, 
and in some cases even exceeded, our ambitious goals for the year. We reported the highest operating 
profit in Roche\u8217?s history, launched two breakthrough anticancer medicines and intensified the focus 
on our core capabilities. Thanks to a very strong operating performance and the gain from the sale of 
our consumer health business, net income more than doubled, reaching 6.6 billion Swiss francs. \line These 
achievements benefit customers, employees and shareholders alike. Over the last three years Roche\u8217?s 
market value has increased by more than 10 billion Swiss francs. During this period the return on Roche 
securities, including price appreciation and dividend yields, has outperformed the average return delivered 
by peer pharmaceuticals and diagnostics companies by about 30%. We expect sales in both divisions to 
continue to grow faster than the market this year.\u8217?\line \line In addition to Roche\u8217?s 
results for 2004, this year\u8217?s Annual General Meeting focused on the Basel research organisation. Ren\u233? 
Imhof, Head of Pharma Research at Roche Basel, emphasised the importance of Group headquarters for Roche 
as a whole: \u8216?Basel is a very attractive location for the Group, whether it be for research, development 
or production. Roche Basel has also proved that it can compete successfully with other Roche pharmaceutical 
research centres worldwide. We are currently working here on over 50 projects in metabolic and vascular 
diseases and diseases of the central nervous system. Moreover, around 200 of the roughly 1,200 researchers 
at Roche Basel also perform global functions for all of the Group\u8217?s research sites.\u8217?\line \line A 
good example of the company\u8217?s successful research activities in Basel is the Roche Center for Medical 
Genomics (formerly the Basel Institute for Immunology) and its work on personalised medicine. Klaus 
Lindpaintner, Head of the Center, explained the significance of this line of research at the Meeting: 
\u8216?Personalised medicine studies the ways in which individuals respond to medicines and the reasons why 
responses vary from person to person. Our research into the genomic differences between individuals 
here in Basel will help us tailor our drugs better to the needs of specific patient populations. This 
means that, in future, we will be able to offer more targeted, effective treatment options, thereby 
creating added value for patients. And, last but not least, we will also be helping to make healthcare 
delivery as a whole more cost-efficient.\u8217?\line \line {\b About Roche} \line Headquartered 
in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world\u8217?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\u8217?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 
2004 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 21.7 billion Swiss francs, while the Diagnostics 
Division posted sales of 7.8 billion Swiss francs. Roche employs roughly 65,000 people in 150 countries 
and has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership 
interests in Genentech and Chugai.\line \line {\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs18 All trademarks used 
or mentioned in this release are protected by law.\par}\line \line {\b Additional 
information} \line Annual Report 2004: www.roche.com/fig_annualrep_2004.htm\par}
{\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}
}