Media Release

Basel, 12 April 2005

Roche and GlaxoSmithKline announce promotion agreement for Xenical in the US

Roche and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK Consumer Healthcare) announced today that they have signed a promotion agreement for the prescription weight loss medication Xenical (orlistat) in the US. The agreement allows GSK Consumer Healthcare to detail and promote Xenical Rx in the US and GSK Consumer Healthcare medical sales representatives will begin meeting with doctors later this week to review clinical data showing the benefit of treating patients with Xenical.

“Our relationship with GSK is longstanding, and we are pleased to expand it further through the co-promotion of Xenical,” commented Peter Hug, Head of Roche Pharma Partnering. “Through partnering, we have taken a highly effective Roche medicine and added GSK’s OTC sales force, one of the strongest in the industry, to be competitive in a challenging market. Roche and GSK have a history of collaboration, a current agreement being the co-promotion of Boniva (ibandronate) for the management of osteoporosis.”

“This is a great opportunity for GSK Consumer Healthcare. In July 2004, we also acquired the rights to orlistat over-the-counter (OTC) in the US. This new agreement enables us to get hands-on experience promoting prescription Xenical while we prepare our application to the FDA for an OTC version,” commented George Quesnelle, President, GSK Consumer Healthcare North America. “Excess weight is a major healthcare threat among Americans and, as it is now recognized as a disease, we are hopeful that many more overweight and obese people will seek medical help,” he concluded.

Terms of the agreement
Under the terms of the agreement GSK obtains the exclusive right to detail and promote Xenical Rx in the US. The terms of the agreement remain confidential. This agreement is only valid in the US and does not affect any other market. Roche will continue to manufacture and invoice Xenical.

About Xenical
Xenical is the number one prescription weight loss medication worldwide that has a unique mode of action. It works locally in the gut to prevent dietary fat absorption by around 30 percent and effectively promotes weight loss. It is the most extensively studied pharmacological weight management treatment to date, with over 30,000 overweight or obese patients participating in clinical trials with Xenical, including the 4 year landmark XENDOS study. It is an effective therapy that not only helps patients lose weight, but also helps them maintain their weight loss.

About Obesity
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 2 out of 3 US adults are overweight or obese, suggesting that roughly 129 million people are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, some forms of cancer, and other disabling medical conditions.

About Roche-GSK collaborations
Roche and GSK were one of the first to adopt co-promotion in the US in the 1980’s with Zantac. In July 2004, the parties entered into a licencing agreement for orlistat OTC in the US. In addition to expanding this relationship to include Xenical Rx in the US, the parties are co-promoting Boniva for the treatment of osteoporosis

About Roche
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 2004 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totaled 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.

About GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is one of the world’s largest over-the-counter consumer healthcare products companies. Its more than 30 well-known brands include the leading smoking cessation products, Nicorette and NicoDerm, as well as many medicine cabinet staples, Abreva, Aquafresh, Sensodyne and Tums.

About GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.

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