Roche joins forces to innovate toxicity testing and to reduce animal experimentation

BASEL, Switzerland & PENZBERG, Germany--(Business Wire)--
Today, Roche opened the Joint Science & Technology Laboratory in Basel, where
Roche Pharma scientists are using the innovative xCELLigence real-time Cell
Analyzer system of Roche Diagnostics to investigate hepatic and cardiac
toxicities in vitro. This new technology will improve the predictive value of in
vitro assessments of organ toxicity and help to reduce animal testing in
toxicity research.

Cell-based in vitro assays are a key tool for early assessment of drug
candidates. Toxicology routinely employs these assays, for example to determine
genotoxicity. The non-clinical safety community is developing other assays
especially for prediction of organ-specific toxicity.

"New techniques such as Real-time cell analysis with the xCELLigence system will
accelerate the ability to identify the toxic potential of a compound at an early
stage of drug development, which supports also Roche´s 3Rs concept of Reducing,
Refining, and Replacing animal experimentation," stated Thomas Singer, Head of
Global Non-Clinical Safety at Roche Pharma.

"This project is yet another example for the advantage of having pharma and
diagnostics under one roof," added Manfred Baier, Head of Roche Applied Science.
"We are in the process of identifying more and more opportunities in working
together for more efficient processes and in the development of treatments that
are tailor-made for the patients."

The uniqueness of the non-invasive and label-free xCELLigence technology is
based on measuring the impedance of cells: The variations in electrical
resistance are caused by changes in numbers, adhesion or shape of the cells. In
conjunction with its user-friendly data collection and analysis capabilities,
the xCELLigence system makes a unique platform for continuous, real-time
cell-based assays and provides a huge opportunity for cellular and molecular
biology.

The data from the xCELLigence real-time impedance measurement, combined with
molecular profiling of the toxic effects of compounds on cardiomyocytes and
hepatocytes, will be compared to conventional cell biology assays and molecular
endpoints. Based on this platform, the goal is to develop new prediction methods
for target organ toxicity in vitro and identify new cellular biomarkers for
toxicity prediction.

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 personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing
medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health,
quality of life and survival of patients.

In 2008, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested almost 9 billion
Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 45.6 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:
www.roche.com.

All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law.

Roche Diagnostics
Dr. Burkhard Ziebolz
Phone: +49 8856 604830
Email: burkhard.ziebolz@roche.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009