Company Profile
Company Overview
Roche Molecular Diagnostics
Headquartered in Pleasanton, California, Roche Molecular Diagnostics is a business area of Roche (Basel, Switzerland) that develops and manufactures innovative tests based on our Nobel Prize winning polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. PCR is used to detect disease, monitor therapy, and help ensure the safety of blood and blood products. With a broad product portfolio, RMD supplies a wide array of innovative medical diagnostic products, services and technologies to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals and laboratories worldwide.
Employees and Recognition
Currently, RMD employs more than 1,000 people across six locations in Pleasanton and Alameda, California; Belleville and Branchburg, New Jersey; Penzberg, Germany; and Rotkreuz, Switzerland. RMD’s senior management team (vice president level and above) has an average tenure of more than 10 years. Many of RMD’s employees have advanced degrees – 195 have a master’s degree and more than 80 have earned their PhD. Overall, our R&D staff has more than 1,300 years of experience.
In recent years, Roche has been recognized by various organizations and publications for being an employer of choice. Recent recognition includes:
• Science magazine, 2006 list of Top Employers in the Biotech and Pharmaceutical Industries
• FORTUNE magazine, 2005 list of Best Companies to Work for in America
• San Francisco Business Journal, Best Places to Work 2005
• AARP, Best Companies for Workers 50 and Over 2003-2006
• BayBio 2006 Outstanding Company Award
• New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s “New Good Neighbors” award
Centers of Excellence
In 2008, RMD will open a new R&D facility at its headquarters in Pleasanton, California. In combination with the existing campus, the 138,000 square foot addition will house more than 450 employees. A new facility is also under construction in Rotkreuz, Switzerland for Development and Manufacturing.
In Branchburg, New Jersey, RMD maintains the world's largest PCR manufacturing facility, where both reagents and diagnostic test kits are manufactured and shipped to sites worldwide. Roche invested more than $155 million to build the new 285,000 square-foot facility.
2006 Key Sales Figures
Segment: Molecular Diagnostics
Sales 2006: $992 million
Growth over 2005: 3 % in local currencies
Market position: No. 1
Product Areas
Our products are focused on specific disease areas and system platforms, with certain key products shown below. For a complete list of our diagnostics and blood screening products, please visit our website at http://molecular.roche.com
• Virology - Automated Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan system – the CAP/CTM system is used for a variety of our PCR-based testing products that encompass numerous therapeutic areas.
• Blood Screening – diagnostics that detect pathogens including HIV and Hepatitis C in donated blood and tissue samples.
• Sexually Transmitted Disease – diagnostics that increase the detection rate of Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG).
• Genomics & Oncology – genetic-based tests, including the AmpliChip CYP450 Test that uses Affymetrix microarray technology to determine the rate of drug metabolism in patients.
• Microbiology – our tests and research-use assays detect numerous pathogens such as tuberculosis and sepsis more rapidly than traditional culturing and other methods.
• Automation & Results Integrity – RMD is at the forefront of providing increased reliability and ease of use with new automated systems that reduce hands-on time and include built-in features to better ensure the integrity of test results.
About Roche and the Roche Diagnostics Division
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As the world’s biggest biotech company and an innovator of products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people’s health and quality of life. Roche is the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer and transplantation, a market leader in virology and active in other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases, inflammation, metabolic disorders and diseases of the central nervous system. In 2006 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 33.3 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 8.7 billion Swiss francs. Roche has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai, and invests approximately 7 billion Swiss francs a year in R&D. Worldwide, the Group employs about 75,000 people. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.roche.com.
For more information about Roche Molecular Diagnostics, please visit our website at http://molecular.roche.com.