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{\pard\sa900\fs50\f0\i Media Release\par}
{\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs22 Basel, 16 May 2006\line \line {\b Roche 
reaches agreement with Aspen to provide influenza medicine for Africa} \line \line Roche 
today announced that it has reached an agreement with the South African company Aspen for the production 
of a generic version of oseltamivir for Africa, as part of continued efforts to increase and speed up 
availability of the medicine for influenza pandemic planning world wide. The agreement with Aspen is 
focused on providing oseltamivir for pandemic use to further help to address the needs of governments 
and other not for profit organisations in the African sub- continent. Roche will provide technical know 
how (technical, pre-clinical and clinical data) to assist Aspen to help them expedite their production 
and the registration. The agreement also allows the supply of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) 
from Roche to Aspen.\line \line David Reddy, Roche\u8217?s Pandemic Taskforce Leader, 
commented: \u8220?We are pleased to announce the partnership with Aspen as the latest step in our scale-up 
efforts to meet the needs of governments in preparing for the potential public health threat posed by 
avian influenza. This is another demonstration of Roche\u8217?s commitment to working as a collaborative and 
responsible partner with governments and the World Health Organization (WHO) to assist in pandemic planning\u8221?. 
\line \line Whilst Roche remains on schedule to meet all orders from African governments 
by early 2007, the collaboration with Aspen will further enhance the supply of oseltamivir for Africa. 
The agreement is non-exclusive and will mean that Roche and other sub-licensees will be able to work 
on pandemic orders within Africa. \line \line {\b Supporting global efforts 
for pandemic preparedness} \line Roche has been in discussions with governments as early 
as 1997 regarding pandemic preparedness and in the last few years, has received orders and letters of 
intent for Tamiflu from over 75 governments around the world for pandemic stockpiling and is fulfilling 
all orders according to the agreed upon schedule. \line \line Clearly, anti-viral 
medicines like Tamiflu are an important component of any pandemic preparedness plan. To meet this demand, 
by working with third parties, Roche has substantially increased the production of Tamiflu and are in 
a position to produce 400 million treatments annually by the end of this year. In addition, sub-licensing 
agreements have been granted to companies in China and India for production of oseltamivir. \line \line {\b Roche 
donations to WHO} \line During discussions with governments, it became clear that developing 
nations were the least prepared in terms of antiviral stockpiling. Subsequent discussions between Roche 
and WHO led to the concept of a rapid response stockpile of 3 million treatments, 1.5 million treatments 
being stored in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland and 1.5 million treatments stored in Nutley, US. The idea of 
such stock is to use the medicine as a fire blanket, to contain a pandemic where it starts. \line Under 
a separate agreement, Roche has also donated a further two million treatment courses to WHO for use 
in those developing countries which are most likely to be affected by avian influenza in humans and 
are unable to afford the drug. These treatment courses can be used by WHO according to its assessment 
of the situation, and will be available for delivery at the end of the year. \line \line {\b About 
Tamiflu (oseltamivir) } \line Tamiflu is designed to be active against all clinically 
relevant influenza viruses and works by blocking the action of the neuraminidase (NAI) enzyme on the 
surface of the virus. When neuraminidase is inhibited, the virus is not able to spread to and infect 
other cells in the body.\line \line {\b Roche and Gilead} \line Tamiflu 
was invented by Gilead Sciences and licensed to Roche in 1996. Roche and Gilead partnered on clinical 
development, with Roche leading efforts to produce, register and bring the product to the markets. Under 
the terms of the companies\u8217? agreement, amended in November 2005, Gilead participates with Roche in the 
consideration of sub-licenses for the pandemic supply of oseltamivir. To ensure broader access to Tamiflu 
for all patients in need, Gilead has agreed to waive its right to full royalty payments for product 
sold under these sub-licenses.\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 
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. Additional information about the Roche Group is available on the Internet (www.roche.com (http://www.roche.com)).\line \line {\pard\f0\li0\ri0\sa360\sl360\fs18 All 
trademarks used or mentioned in this release are legally protected.\par}\line \line \line {\b Additional 
information} \line - About Aspen (http://www.aspenpharma.com)\line - Roche 
Health Kiosk, Influenza (http://www.health-kiosk.ch/start_grip.htm)\line - 
About Tamiflu (http://www.roche.com/med_mbtamiflu05e.pdf)\line - About influenza (http://www.roche.com/med_mbackgrinfluenza05e.pdf)\line - 
WHO: Global influenza programme (http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/en/)\line - WHO: Avian flu (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/avian_influenza/en/)\line \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}
}