Data Quality Meets Enjoyment: New Small LightCycler System Presented at Real-Time PCR Symposium in Prague

PENZBERG, Germany, June 14, 2011 -

At the “Developments in Real-Time PCR” Symposium in Prague, June
13^th - 17^th href="www.qpcrsymposium.eu/">www.qpcrsymposium.eu/
, Roche (SIX: RO, ROG;
OTCQX: RHHBY) officially presented the latest addition to the
company’s real-time PCR portfolio of LightCycler(R) instruments.
The LightCycler(R) Nano instrument is being targeted at users
expecting top performance in times of tight budgets.

At the exhibition of the Prague symposium, Roche representatives
demonstrated the excellent characteristics of the 32-well
instrument. The system’s innovative approach, both regarding optics
and thermal control, results in an extremely low variation of
well-to-well performance that could only previously be achieved by
higher-priced instruments. The instrument and its software can be
used with all computer operating systems, including Apple,
Windows-PC and Linux. Instead of miniaturized disposables, PCR
strips are used to further optimize the convenient handling of the
instrument. These PCR strips are offered bundled together with
proven high quality PCR reagents at a very attractive price.

“PCR users primarily care about the quality of their research.
They expect their instrumentation to be enjoyable and convenient to
use and that it fits into their working environment,” said Gerd
Haberhausen, Life Cycle Leader qPCR and Nucleic Acid Preparation at
Roche Applied Science. “The LightCycler(R) Nano System satisfies
these expectations by delivering excellent research results and
still being enjoyable to work with.”

Roche expects to start shipping LightCycler(R) Nano Instrument
packages in early July.

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in
research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in
pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world’s largest
biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology,
virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world
leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and
a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche’s personalized healthcare
strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that
enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and
survival of patients. In 2010, Roche had over 80′000 employees
worldwide and invested over 9 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The
Group posted sales of 47.5 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United
States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a
majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more
information: href="www.roche.com/">www.roche.com.

For life science research only. Not for use in diagnostic
procedures.

LIGHTCYCLER is a trademark of Roche.

Other brands or product names are trademarks of the respective
holder.

For further information, please contact:

Roche Diagnostics
Dr. Burkhard Ziebolz
Phone: +49-8856-604830
Email: href="mailto:burkhard.ziebolz@roche.com">burkhard.ziebolz@roche.com

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